No Flagg, No Kyrie, No Gas Left: Spurs Take Over the AAC in the Fourth While Sergio de Larrea Gives Mavs Fans a Reason to Smile

By Marcus Delaney, RF Sports Radio Mavericks voice

Mavs Nation, Friday night was the best half of the young season. Saturday night was the reminder of what this roster looks like without its two best players. The home opener belonged to San Antonio, and by the final minutes it sounded like it, too.

The facts

The Spurs beat the Mavericks 122-106 at American Airlines Center, per the Associated Press. Victor Wembanyama had 23 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, Dylan Harper scored 22, and De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle added 19 apiece as San Antonio got its first win of the season. Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back, and both are now 1-2.

Dallas played without Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving. The AP reports an MRI revealed a mild sprain of Flagg's left shoulder, suffered when Aaron Nesmith fouled him from behind on a breakaway late in the first half in Indiana. Last season's Rookie of the Year will be reevaluated next week. Irving sat out the second night of the back-to-back.

Rookie Sergio de Larrea led Dallas with 21 points off the bench, shooting 9 of 15 and 3 of 4 from three in 33 minutes, per WhyNBA's postgame report. P.J. Washington led the starters with 12, and the five starters combined for 50. The Mavs scored 46 points in the paint in the first half, a franchise high in the play-by-play era according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and they rallied from 14 down in the third quarter to briefly lead 85-84. Then the Spurs opened the fourth on a 17-5 run and won the quarter 30-17. San Antonio had 15 offensive rebounds and won second-chance points 25-10, and Dallas turned it over 21 times. Dusty May said his team "probably ran out of gas late."

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: I am not losing sleep over this one. A back-to-back, no Flagg, no Kyrie, and a rookie playing 33 minutes against Wembanyama's team is a schedule loss. What I care about is the word "mild" in that MRI report. If Flagg is back in a week or two, Friday's scare becomes a footnote.

The real story for me is de Larrea. The 25th pick walked into a home opener, took the hardest minutes on the floor against Castle's pressure and made shots. That is the kind of night that earns a young guard a real role when everybody is healthy.

The concern is ball security. Twenty-one turnovers against a team that lives on pressure is how you lose a fourth quarter by 13. May needs a clear plan for who brings the ball up when Irving is out.

My call: the Mavs split the next two without Flagg. That is a prediction, not a report.

What to watch next

Dallas plays at Miami on Monday at 6:30 p.m. Central, with no word yet on Irving. Flagg's reevaluation comes next week. For Friday's rout in Indiana, read our Oct. 24 Mavericks column on the win in Indiana, and keep up with the Dallas Mavericks page.

Radio question: was Sergio de Larrea's 21-point night a one-off, or did the Mavs just find their backup point guard?

Sources: ESPN / AP - Wembanyama, Harper lead Spurs past short-handed Mavericks 122-106; NBA.com / AP - Flagg will miss game vs. Spurs with left shoulder sprain; WhyNBA - Dusty May says the short-handed Mavericks ran out of gas against the Spurs; Mavs.com - Schedule.