Luka Doncic racked up 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists and Klay Thompson scored 22 points in his Mavericks debut as Dallas used a strong second half to beat the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Thursday in the season opener for both teams.
The Mavericks found their stroke in the third quarter to flip their two-point halftime deficit into a 14-point lead. Dallas surged again after the Spurs pulled within seven points entering the fourth quarter, building a 111-90 cushion with 6:01 to play.
Thompson went 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. Dereck Lively II had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Kyrie Irving also scored 15 points and Jaden Hardy and P.J. Washington each tallied 11 points in the win.
Julian Champagnie and Jeremy Sochan paced the Spurs with 18 points each. Victor Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes added 17 points apiece. Wembanyama added nine rebounds but shot 5 of 18 from the floor, including 1 of 8 from beyond the arc.
Timberwolves 117, Kings 115
Anthony Edwards capped a 32-point performance with two tiebreaking free throws with 2.4 seconds left, Julius Randle scored a game-high 33 points and visiting Minnesota edged Sacramento in the Kings’ season opener.
Naz Reid had 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds off the bench for the Timberwolves, while Gobert finished with 11 rebounds and just three points.
DeMar DeRozan had a team-high 26 points in his debut for the Kings, who led by 12 points midway through the third quarter. Sabonis added 24 points, while Murray tallied 23 points and a team-high 11 rebounds and Fox had 15 points and a team-high 11 assists.
Thunder 102, Nuggets 87
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, Chet Holmgren finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds and visiting Oklahoma City overcame a triple-double from Nikola Jokic to beat Denver in the season opener for both teams.
Aaron Wiggins contributed 15 points off the bench for the Thunder, who have won their past four games against Denver.
Jokic finished with 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. Christian Braun also scored 16 points for the Nuggets, who shot just 7-for-39 from behind the 3-point arc.
Celtics 122, Wizards 102
Jaylen Brown tossed in 27 points and Jayson Tatum finished with 25 to lead visiting Boston over Washington.
Tatum also had 11 rebounds and six assists in the win. Boston led by as many as 32 points in the second half. The Celtics were 17-of-45 from behind the 3-point arc after tying an NBA record by making 29 3-pointers in a season-opening victory against the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. Boston’s Payton Pritchard connected on five of his 10 3-point attempts and finished with 15 points. Derrick White made four 3-pointers and added 19 points for the Celtics.
It was the season opener for Washington, which received a team-high 26 points from Jordan Poole. Jonas Valanciunas (18) and Kyle Kuzma (12) also scored in double figures for the Wizards, who were 7-of-36 on 3-point attempts.