Mavericks Pull Away Late in Season-Opening Win Over Spurs as Klay Thompson Makes Triumphant Dallas Debut

The Mavericks' defense and second-half surge led by Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson secure a strong opening night win over the Spurs.

Photo via Nick White

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks (1-0) opened their 2024-25 NBA season with a 120-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs (0-1) on Thursday night, with Klay Thompson making his highly anticipated regular season debut.

Thompson delivered a franchise-record six three-pointers for a team debut, finishing with 22 points to help Dallas set the tone for the new season. From the moment his name echoed through the American Airlines Center during pregame introductions, Thompson could feel the buzz. Dončić added a near triple-double with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists, while Kyrie Irving added 15 points.

“It’s one game,” Thompson said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Tonight was a great start. But I’m not satisfied. We have so much basketball ahead. You can never be too high through the regular season. We have really big goals. One good win at home is not going to satisfy any us. We want to be really, really good this year and get back to where they were at last year.”

As Thompson later admitted, there were nerves, but once his first shot found the net, the jitters melted away, and Thompson never looked back. He ended the night shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, setting a franchise record for most threes made in a Mavericks debut.

“Well, the feelings were a lot of nerves, anxiousness,” Thompson said. “But once you see one go through, you feel great. It’s only one game in October, but it feels good just to get the first one out of the way, and setting a record is always a great feeling and something I'll never take for granted.”