Even though Jason Terry is firmly ingrained in Mavs fans’ memories, they think that a debut by one of the greatest shooters in game history can inspire fresh ones.
Klay Thompson was up and running in no time. Additionally, it didn’t take long to demonstrate why the Mavericks have a compelling argument for making it back to the NBA Finals.
The Mavericks are already expected to reach previously unthinkable heights, according to NBA analysts.
It was a fantastic opportunity to highlight the Mavericks versus Victor Wembanyama in his eagerly awaited sophomore season, and the game was nationally aired on TNT. Wembanyama was kept out of the spotlight by Jason Kidd’s superb defensive strategy, which involved throwing a variety of players at him and having them defend him with physicality and ferocity.
Klay Thompson, the new star in Dallas, swiftly took control and heated up like a “NBA Jam” video game, even though Luka Doncic also had a strong game.
Thompson is the epitome of the adage “shooters shoot.” He achieved it last night by making six 3-pointers, setting a Mavericks record for the most in a franchise debut. Many NBA fans took notice of his performance when he finished with 22 points on 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
The return of the NBA on TNT post-it notes also didn’t take long.
Naturally, during the opening week of the regular season, NBA commentators have a tendency to overreact. According to NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, Thompson was always needed because they needed a third scorer. O’Neal believes that if Thompson can average 20 points per game, Dallas will win the Finals.
O’Neal has consistently favored the Mavericks; in fact, he predicted Dallas to win the NBA Finals the previous season.
O’Neal made an intriguing early observation with this. If Thompson averages 20 points per game and the Mavs remain healthy for the majority of the season, that could be devastating for the other teams in the league.
If Doncic averages about 30 points per game, Kyrie Irving can contribute 23 points, and Thompson can contribute 20, that’s 96 points from the new big three alone.
Thompson was the missing third piece all along, according to O’Neal’s concept. He brings something that Doncic has not yet experienced in his NBA career.
Doncic ought to express gratitude to Thompson for his assistance last night. Thanks to the assistance of those around him, Doncic was able to avoid having to perform a near triple-double every night.
Would the resume benefit from a scoring title? Yes, but this time it’s not as important.
The club should keep concentrating on playing team ball and getting excellent looks from beyond the arc while Thompson is taking a burden off of Doncic’s chest.
When Dallas signed Thompson, we knew he would attract a lot of attention, but we were unaware that they would be this open. He could end up being the Mavs’ deciding factor to play basketball in June for the second consecutive year. His debut set a solid foundation for the remainder of the season.