The San Antonio Spurs will swagger a bit when they stride into Dallas to play the struggling Mavericks on Thursday in the latest rendition of the Lone Star State rivalry.
The Spurs should be feeling pretty good about themselves after beating Oklahoma City 116-106 on Wednesday to secure their fourth win in five games this season against the West-leading Thunder.
Yes, Oklahoma City suited up just eight players and was without four starters including reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but any win over the Thunder has to be celebrated.
Keldon Johnson scored 25 points off the bench and Victor Wembanyama added 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Spurs, who — with 34 wins — have already matched their total from last season just nine games past the midway point.
San Antonio also got 15 points and 10 assists from De’Aaron Fox, while Stephon Castle hit for 14 points, Carter Bryant scored 11 and Luke Kornet took 15 boards.
The win was not an easy one despite the Spurs’ obvious advantage in depth. Oklahoma City pulled to within four points with four minutes to play before Castle and Wembanyama made plays down the stretch to assure San Antonio’s second straight win.
“We did what we had to do to get the win,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I think there’s a lot of things that could have been better and it was good to see us finish the job, but there are a lot of things that we will continue to do to try to hold ourselves to our standard.”
Thursday’s contest is the first meeting between the teams since a Spurs win in Dallas in their season opening game on Oct. 22. It is also the first of a home-and-home miniseries over a three-day period, with the follow-up on Saturday in the Alamo City.
The Mavericks have dropped five straight games, most recently a 110-100 setback at home to Boston on Tuesday. The loss came despite a 36-point performance from rookie Cooper Flagg, while Caleb Martin added 13 points, Daniel Gafford had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Max Christie also hit for 10 points.
The Mavericks tallied just 15 points in the second period – their lowest in any quarter this season – trailed by eight at halftime and never recovered.
Flagg’s output marked his third straight game with 30 or more points.
“I’m just being confident, being aggressive, getting to my spots with good pace and it’s worked out well,” Flagg said of his recent scoring outburst. “I’m just proud of myself for staying confident, staying poised. I never doubted myself (with) everybody saying everybody (I’ve hit) a rookie wall or whatever. I just let all that pass and got back up stronger.”
The Mavericks’ team that lines up against San Antonio will have a different roster. On Wednesday, Dallas traded injured superstar Anthony Davis along with Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell and Dante Exum to Washington in exchange for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III and five combined draft picks.
While Dallas’ new players may not be in uniform on Thursday, the team will definitely be without the four players who were traded away.
