The Dallas Mavericks looked to get back in the win column as they faced the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. They suffered an embarrassing loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday without Kyrie Irving, and with him back in the lineup for this game, you'd hope for better results.

P.J. Washington was the Maverick who had it going early, scoring 7 of their first 10 points. However, Victor Wembanyama made it clear that his offensive struggles from the first week were something behind him, as he had 10 of the Spurs' first 12 points, and would end up finishing the first quarter with 15.

One player noticeably not playing well, though, was Cooper Flagg. He had a rough game on Monday, shooting just 3/19 from the field. It was an ugly start in this one, going 1/11 well into the second half, as he just didn't look confident in himself.

Part of that was the presence of Wembanyama, who had 5 blocks in the first half and a few more to start the second half.

Even with Flagg struggling, the Mavericks were able to keep pace for most of the first half because of Washington's strong play and Kyrie Irving's three-point shooting. The Spurs led 49-48 with 5 minutes left in the first half, but Daniel Gafford missed the potential game-tying free throw, and the Spurs ripped off a 19-3 run the rest of the way, taking a 68-51 lead into the half.

Flagg started to get more comfortable once Wembanyama went to the bench in the third quarter, hitting back-to-back shots in the lane, but it was Kyrie Irving who got the Mavs back into it. San Antonio led by as much as 19 points after a corner three by Stephon Castle, but Dallas kept chipping away.

Irving scored nine points in the span of three minutes to help the lead back to single digits, then Walter Clayton Jr. hit a corner three to cut the lead to eight, forcing a timeout from the Spurs. Despite Wembanyama having an absurd first three quarters (40 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocks), the Spurs held a 10-point lead at the break, which felt like it could be an achievable difference for Dallas, especially with the three-point advantage the Mavericks had to this point.

As if on cue, Walter Clayton Jr. had a filthy fake pass to the corner that caused Wembanyama to get out of position, then finished at the rim, followed by Cooper Flagg drawing Wembanyama inside before kicking to Naji Marshall for three to cut the lead to 7. Marshall then attacked the basket a few possessions later with Wembanyama, followed by ANOTHER three to cut it to 2.

After some free throws, Caleb Martin made an impressive alley-oop pass from just inside halfcourt to Cooper Flagg, who finished with a layup over Luke Kornet, and it was a tie game with six minutes to play. P.J. Washington hit a three on the next sequence, and the Mavericks had their first lead since it was 26-25. Wembanyama hit a three on the next possession to tie it again, but we had a ballgame.

Some back-and-forth possessions left Wembanyama getting his 47th point at the rim to give the Spurs a three-point lead with about three minutes remaining.

We saw some impressive shot-making at the rim in the next minute with Flagg (who really turned things around in the second half) and Irving. Naji Marshall then tied the game with a corner three, with Dylan Harper down on the other end (not a serious injury), with less than two minutes to go.

Wembanyama was fouled with 24 seconds left, and after making his first 18, he had missed three straight from the line entering this trip. He missed the first, made the second, and the Spurs had a one-point lead with essentially one possession to go.

With the game on the line, the Mavericks let Kyrie Irving go one-on-one, but he missed the shot, and the Mavs would fall just short, 112-111. This puts the Mavericks at 4-4 on the season.

It may have been a loss, but the Mavericks went toe-to-toe with arguably the best team in the Western Conference on the road, and are still missing key pieces like Dereck Lively II and Santi Aldama. It was an impressive comeback.

Here are three thoughts/overreactions to this game.

Dusty May's Plan For Defending Victor Wembanyama

Games like this are where you learn a lot about a new head coach, and Dusty May wasn't afraid to try something different against Victor Wembanyama. He mostly rolled with P.J. Washington as the main defender on Wemby, letting bigs like Daniel Gafford and Morez Johnson Jr. stay on a player like Stephon Castle, whom they didn't trust to shoot.

Wembanyama made them pay, finishing with a ridiculous 52 points, 24 rebounds, and 8 blocks, but everyone else really struggled. It was the classic strategy of letting one player get theirs, but not letting anyone else get comfortable. When I was a manager at Florida State, we executed a similar strategy against Ja Morant and Murray State in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Morant had a great game scoring, but FSU won by nearly 30 because no one else was comfortable (it was also just a massive talent advantage).

Rebounding was an issue, especially as the Mavericks went small with P.J. Washington at center, but the smaller lineups gave the Mavericks a lot of life on offense in the second half.

They'll like to have Dereck Lively II back soon for matchups like these, though.

Walter Clayton Jr. Needs a Standard Contract Yesterday

Walter Clayton Jr. is the Mavericks' second-best guard right now. It's Kyrie Irving, then Clayton. He's been so impressive considering that a little over two weeks ago, the Memphis Grizzlies flat-out waived him, despite him being a first-round pick a year ago.

He finished this game with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and no turnovers. You simply can't ask for better than how he played in this game, with Coach May even trusting him down the stretch in the closing lineup.

Clayton will have a standard contract from the Mavericks before the end of the season.

Make Me Eat My Words Naji Marshall

I was critical of Naji Marshall this week, saying the Mavericks may already be regretting his contract extension. So, naturally, he comes out and finishes with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting 9/12 from the floor and 3/3 from three.

It was good to see him play well after struggling so much early in the year. The Mavericks need this version of him more consistently if they're going to contend in the muddy Western Conference.

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