The Dallas Mavericks had a six-point lead when Victor Wembanyama finally began scoring from the field. That should have been a useful opening for Dallas. Instead, it became the pause before San Antonio’s offense added its most imposing option.
The Spurs beat Dallas 122-106 Saturday at American Airlines Center, and Wembanyama’s slow start was less an advantage for the Mavericks than a test of San Antonio’s depth of creation. He had one point until 6:08 remained in the second quarter. By halftime, he had 12, and the Spurs had turned a 47-41 Dallas lead into a 68-60 lead.
De’Aaron Fox supplied 19 points and nine assists. Stephon Castle also scored 19 and handed out eight assists. Devin Vassell added 11 points, six assists and no turnovers.
Together, those three accounted for 23 assists, helping San Antonio produce enough offense while Wembanyama’s scoring was mostly absent. Dylan Harper added 22 points, including nine before halftime, another reason the Spurs did not need to funnel every possession toward their star.
Wembanyama’s first-quarter sequence was hardly a clean offensive introduction. He made one free throw at 11:43, lost the ball to Daniel Gafford at 9:20 and missed a 24-foot jumper at 9:02. He came out with 7:33 left in the period.
San Antonio still moved ahead 14-8 after Castle scored on a driving layup and then finished a dunk credited to Luke Kornet’s assist. Vassell also made a 13-foot pull-up jumper during that stretch, while his later two-point make was listed without a shot-type description.
The Spurs did not build a runaway lead before Wembanyama returned to the scoring column. Dallas was playing well enough to lead 47-41 when Castle assisted Wembanyama on an alley-oop layup at 6:08 of the second. Thirty seconds later, Castle was again credited with the alley-oop assist, this time on a dunk.
Wembanyama then made a 25-foot running jumper at 4:16, cleaned up his own missed alley-oop with a tip at 2:54 and scored again on a Fox-assisted basket with 1:25 left.
That sequence changed the mathematics because San Antonio had already made Dallas account for Fox, Castle, Vassell and Harper. Wembanyama’s scoring did not repair a stalled attack; it widened one that was already functioning. Castle could create a drive, Fox could organize or score, Vassell could pass without giving the ball away, and Harper could provide another scoring lane.
Wembanyama was not required to begin every answer for the Spurs to have one available.
Dallas had a strong reply after halftime. The Mavericks won the third quarter 29-24 and cut the eight-point gap to 92-89. Sergio de Larrea drove the push with a 24-foot jumper at 7:44, another 24-footer at 4:37 and a seven-foot floater at 2:01 that put Dallas ahead 85-84.
