The San Antonio Spurs stood pat at the trade deadline and look to continue to show why they are happy with the progress they’ve made as they host the swooning Dallas Mavericks on Saturday in the second of a home-and-home miniseries between the teams.
The Spurs took the first game 135-123 in Dallas on Thursday as Victor Wembanyama dominated with 29 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots, with one swat coming in the final minutes when the Mavericks were making a last-gasp push.
“We had some possessions where I thought we had good multiple efforts but our initial game plan execution or physicality wasn’t there,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We did a really good job, especially at the end, of shoring it up a little bit more than we were throughout the game.”
Harrison Barnes had 19 points for the Spurs, including a pair of free throws in the deciding stretch. Stephon Castle hit for 18 points, De’Aaron Fox tallied 17, Julian Champagnie added 14 and Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell had 12 each as San Antonio won its third straight game.
“We stayed pretty solid on defense,” Wembanyama said. “Everything could have been better. We went back to what we know offensively, because at some point, we’re just doing whatever.”
With 35 wins, the Spurs have already exceeded their total from last season.
Dallas dropped its sixth straight game despite a season-high 32 points from Naji Marshall and 32 from 19-year-old rookie Cooper Flagg.
Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to record four consecutive 30-point games. He is the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1985 with four consecutive 30-point, five-rebound games.
“I think me and Naji have played a lot of minutes together this year and have been together for a long time,” Flagg said. “It’s just a relationship we built out there. We trust each other. Part of it is he plays the right way. I play the right way. So, it’s kind of easy to gel together and mesh with other groups out there.”
Max Christie added 20 points and Daniel Gafford scored 16 with 10 boards for the Mavericks in the loss. Dallas had just 10 players suited up for Thursday’s game as they await the four reinforcements obtained from the Washington Wizards in Wednesday’s Anthony Davis trade.
“There’s a lot to learn,” Flagg said about the loss to the Spurs. “We’ll watch the film, we’ll look at what worked and what didn’t. But I think there’s a lot to clean up.”
Before Flagg’s performance on Thursday, Jalen Green was the most recent rookie to score at least 30 points in four straight games, accomplishing that feat during the 2021-22 season when he collected five in a row while playing for Houston.
“Cooper’s had an incredible start to his NBA career,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s learning to play the game at a high level and accepted all the challenges. We’ve got a long runway with him and some of the other players in that locker room.”
Saturday’s contest is the first of a six-game road trip for the Mavericks that will be split by the All-Star break.
