De Larrea shines against Wembanyama, but Mavericks fall

De Larrea’s first major night in the NBA came against Wembanyama, but it did not bring a win. The Mavericks lost 122-106 to the Spurs, who entered the game after opening their season with two defeats. De Larrea played 33 minutes in the absence of Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving, finishing as his team’s leading scorer with 21 points. “Larry,” coming off the bench, was also described as the Mavericks’ top scorer, with 21 points on nine made shots from 15 attempts.

The game turned in the fourth quarter. By the time De Larrea entered for the period, Dallas was trailing 103-94. The Spurs took control early in the quarter: an 11-0 run grew into an 18-6 stretch, pushing the score to 119-98. The deficit had become too large for the home side to overcome. Earlier, Daniel Gafford had brought the Mavericks within a point with the first basket of the quarter, making it 92-91. The Spurs then made five of their 15 three-point attempts.

De Larrea scored his first NBA points that night. In his previous outing against the Pacers, he had played only 56 seconds, and he had not scored in his first two games. He also found ways to get past Victor Wembanyama’s reach. No other Mavericks player attempted as many shots as he did.

The guard acknowledged that he still had work to do: “I have to improve a lot of things. Defensive rotations, being ready… I work every day and today I think this was the result of that work.” His coach was very pleased with the performance, pointing to the young player’s defensive improvement, particularly against the ball-handler, and his effort to pursue long rebounds. He called it a very good game for a young player facing one of the best defenses around the basket.

The Mavericks’ reserves had kept pace with the Spurs until the fourth quarter. San Antonio, however, controlled most of the game and led by as many as 23 points. Wembanyama finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, the best performance for the Spurs in the game.