Three times on one second-quarter possession, Victor Wembanyama turned a Dallas trip toward the basket into a warning. He blocked Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, giving the Mavericks three immediate answers to the same question: what happens when the ball keeps going toward the Spurs’ best rim protector?
San Antonio beat Dallas 112-111 Wednesday at Frost Bank Center, with Wembanyama finishing at 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks. That sequence did not decide the game by itself, but it captured the decision problem that helped put Dallas in a 17-point hole.
When the Mavericks attacked the interior without enough variation, San Antonio’s largest defensive presence could erase one attempt and still remain involved in the next one.
Coach Dusty May later credited Dallas with making smarter choices after halftime and said the Mavericks challenged Wembanyama at the rim less frequently. The score supports that reading without turning it into a grand tactical transformation. Dallas trailed by 17 at the break, fell 73-54 early in the third quarter and still won the second half 60-44.
The comeback came as the Mavericks found multiple routes into the offense rather than repeatedly asking one player to solve the same towering problem.
Flagg was the clearest example. He had four points before halftime while shooting 1-for-11, then scored 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting after the break. His passing also changed the shape of Dallas’ attack. Four of his five assists went to Naji Marshall, including three fourth-quarter baskets.
Marshall gave Dallas a way to punish San Antonio without insisting that every possession finish at the rim. He made a three at 9:46 of the fourth quarter, another at 8:17 and a third at 1:41, when his shot tied the game at 111-111. Between those threes came a two-point basket and an 11-foot pullup.
Marshall supplied thirteen points during the quarter and finished 9-for-12 from the field.
The important part was the connection. Flagg did not have to force his own shot after the Spurs had established their interior resistance. He could move the ball to Marshall, whose perfect 3-for-3 night from outside demanded a different kind of defensive response. That is not a claim about a particular San Antonio coverage; it is simply what Dallas’ completed possessions showed.
Washington supplied another answer from a different spot on the floor. Walter Clayton Jr. grabbed two offensive rebounds on the possession that ended with Washington receiving Clayton’s pass and making a three at 5:38. That basket put Dallas ahead 103-100, the first Mavericks lead since the opening quarter. Eighteen seconds later, Wembanyama made his only three of the night to tie the game.
That exchange made the night’s statistical tension easy to understand. Dallas made 14 of 37 threes, while San Antonio made 5 of 36, creating a 27-point Dallas advantage from beyond the arc. The Spurs countered by winning the two-point category 64-50 and the paint scoring battle 62-40. Wembanyama was 15-for-20 on two-point attempts and shot 23 free throws, making 19.
