A season opener that was like many season openers – not particularly sharp, but entertaining nonetheless – turned in the Mavericks’ favor Thursday night with something that surely brought a smile to Jason Kidd’s face.
Their defense.
Forcing turnovers on three consecutive San Antonio possessions in the third quarter, the Mavericks broke open a three-point game, went up by 14 and that gave them enough cushion to take a 120-109 victory over the Spurs at American Airlines Center in the opener for both sides.
Klay Thompson wowed the sellout crowd with his shooting, Luka Donu010diu0107 did the things he normally does and the Mavericks got this new 82-game marathon off on a good note.