By ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS (AP) — Klay Thompson chatted up Tony Romo during a break early in the fourth quarter, not long before being so wide open for a 3-pointer, he paused, dribbled once, paused again to line up the shot and made it.
The Dallas debut was quite a bit better than the finale from Thompson’s 13 seasons with Golden State.
Thompson set a franchise record in a debut with six 3-pointers and scored 22 points playing alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving for the first time Thursday night, Oct. 24, in the Mavericks’ 120-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the opener for both teams.
“The feelings were a lot of nerves, anxiousness, for a few minutes, then you see one go through and you feel great,” Thompson said. “Great debut. It’s only one game in October, but it feels good to get the first one out of the way.”
After missing all 10 of his shots in the final game with the Warriors in a play-in tournament loss in April, Thompson made his first two with the defending Western Conference champions, both inside the arc.
Like the sluggish Dallas team that shot 36% in the first half, Thompson missed his next four shots before hitting his first 3 in what turned out to be a preview of the second half.
Thompson scored 14 points after the break and was 4 of 5 from long range, as Dallas went 13 of 21 from 3 after making just 6 of 23 in the first half. The five-time All-Star and four-time champ with the Warriors also had seven rebounds and three steals.
The 3 after the chat with Romo, a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback sitting courtside, came during a 16-3 run early in the fourth quarter that gave the Mavericks their first 20-point lead.
While the pause and the dribble were something new for the Dallas crowd, Thompson said he’s done it occasionally throughout his career.
“When you’re getting ready to shoot the ball and you’re that wide open, sometimes you overthink it,” Thompson said. “I heard Luka was running down the floor, though. Happy I made it, and made him not look stupid.”
Thompson finished 7 of 13 overall and 6 of 10 from 3, while Doncic had 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The lone assist for Thompson came when he took a handoff coming off a screen and looked like he was going to pull up from 3. Instead, he drove briefly before passing back to Irving, who hit the 3 on his way to 15 points.
“It’s easy to play with a guy like that,” Doncic said of Thompson. “It makes your life easier. It makes my life and Kai’s easier, it makes the whole team’s life easier. It’s a lot of space. It’s great.”
Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes, and the Boston Celtics cruised to a 122-102 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Jaylen Brown scored 27 points in the Celtics’ first road game of the season. Derrick White had 19 and Payton Pritchard added 15 as the defending NBA champions extended their winning streak against Washington to five games.
Jordan Poole scored 20 of his 26 points before halftime in the rebuilding Wizards’ season opener, and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 in his Washington debut.
After taking their first double-digit lead just before halftime, the Celtics outscored the Wizards 34-19 in the third quarter put the game out of reach.
In Sacramento, Anthony Edwards hit a pair of free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Sacramento’s opener by beating the Kings 117-115.
Edwards got fouled by Domantas Sabonis on a drive with the game tied and calmly hit the free throws to give him 32 points.
Keegan Murray’s 3-point attempt rimmed out at the buzzer for the Kings.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with 33 points in his second game after being acquired in a trade from New York this month.
Demar DeRozan scored 26 points to lead the Kings in his debut for Sacramento after being acquired this summer in a sign-and-trade from Chicago. Sabonis added 24 points and Murray had 23.
