Whatever butterflies Klay Thompson felt going into his Mavericks debut evaporated quickly. As did any trepidation Dallas fans felt about how the new star would mesh with their incumbent one.
“After a few minutes, you see one go through— you feel great,” the freshly minted forward said in his post-game press conference.
The Mavericks’ 120-109 victory over Victor Wembanya and the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night wasn’t just great — it was historic.
Thompson, the five-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion who donned a non-Warriors jersey for the first time in his 13-year career, set a franchise record with six 3-pointers — the most ever in a Mavericks debut.
He finished the contest with 22 points, seven rebounds and one assist.
“To feel the reception from the city— that’s all I needed to feel at home,” Thompson said after the game. “You only get the first time of something [every] so often.”
Luka Doncic did all the things Thompson had grown accustomed to Steph Curry doing in Golden State— mainly, drawing the eyes and ears of defenders and opening up the floor for everyone else.
The Mavericks’ superstar assisted on four of Thompson’s buckets and finished the contest with 28 points of his own on 9-of-25 shooting
Doncic missed preseason play with a left calf contusion and called himself “rusty,” though Thompson saw nothing of the sort.
“What an incredible talent,” he said of last season’s scoring champion. “I mean, it doesn’t make any sense, because what we’re taught growing up as far as being the best basketball player is you got to jump the highest, you got to run the fastest. But somehow, Luka defies that.
“He plays at his own speed and manipulates the game as good as I’ve ever seen anyone do it. And it’s great to be a recipient of that and get great looks.”
Doncic, for his part, was more succinct in his evaluation of their chemistry: “It’s easy to play with a guy like that.”
One game hardly constitutes a sample size, but Thursday night’s win bodes well for a Mavericks team that reached the NBA Finals in 2023-24.
As Thompson said, “we have really big goals. so one win at home is not going to satisfy any of us.”
