San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) is guarded by Dallas Mavericks forward Daniel Gafford during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (Julio Cortez/Associated Press) Jeff McDonald Sun, October 25, 2026 at 8:01 PM UTC · 5 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The scoreboard lights at the American Airlines Center late Saturday night told the story in black and white: Spurs 122, Dallas Mavericks 106 .
Inside the visitors' locker room, however, the mood suggested a different result.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson wasn't in the mood to pop champagne corks after his team earned its first victory of the season against the short-handed Mavericks.
"If you were in there, you would have thought we lost the game," guard De'Aaron Fox said.
Six months from now, nobody will remember how the Spurs limped into Dallas with an 0-2 record to face a Mavericks team down two starters and four more rotation players and, for the bulk of three quarters, found themselves locked in a dog fight.
Johnson was not about to let them forget now.
"We've played three games, and we've got stretches of the games where we're getting our butts kicked," Johnson said. "There's a lot of things we can control and we've got to be better at that."
After a season-opening loss against archrival Oklahoma City and less than 24 hours removed from a down-to-the-wire defeat against Houston in Austin, the Spurs headed into Dallas with a prime chance to at last put a tick in the win column.
Dallas Mavericks forward Sergio de Larrea reacts after scoring a basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)
The Spurs allowed 31 points in the first quarter to a Dallas team missing star sophomore Cooper Flagg (shoulder sprain) and All-Star guard Kyrie Irving (rest) among others. It was the third time in three games the Spurs' defense coughed up 30-plus points in the opening frame.
The paint, usually a no-fly zone with Victor Wembanyama around, was practically a Mavericks air show. Dallas scored 46 points in the paint in the first half, a franchise record and a figure Johnson called "ridiculous."
They made Dallas rookie Sergio de Larrea look like the second coming of LeBron James on his way to 24 points off the bench.
By the fourth quarter, the Spurs were clinging to a 92-89 lead and staring at the very real possibility of an 0-3 start.
They responded with their best-played quarter of the season, winning the final frame 30-17.
"Thankfully," guard Dylan Harper said, "we got a win."
A sharpened-up fourth quarter was enough to improve the Spurs' record to 1-2, but not enough to improve their coach's mood.
The Spurs won in part thanks to Victor Wembanyama, who shrugged off another cold start to finish with 23 points and four blocks. Harper added 22 points, while fellow guards Fox and Stephon Castle contributed 19 points apiece and combined for 17 assists.
The Spurs got a fourth-quarter boost from rookie center Tarris Reed Jr., who grabbed three rebounds during a three-minute stretch of the final frame that turned the game.
MORE SPURS: How three Tarris Reed minutes gave the Spurs their first win
Afterward, Johnson praised the 23-year-old Reed's "effort and energy."
"It's contagious when you play the right way," Johnson said.
Johnson can only hope the contagion spreads when the Spurs return home Tuesday to face Sacramento.
"Effort goes a long way," Johnson said. "As talented as these guys are, consistent effort with just a little bit of togetherness, execution can really be something to build upon. We just have not been consistent enough in a lot of ways."
On their magic carpet ride to the NBA Finals last season, the Spurs offered a glimpse of how high their ceiling can reach when their effort matches their talent.
Johnson, meanwhile, spent the early going of the new season worried about how far the Spurs' floor has fallen.
"Our floor right now is way too low," he said.
Wembanyama said he did not expect the Spurs to begin the new season as locked-in as they were during the playoffs.
"I wouldn't call it starting over," Wembanyama said. "But I wouldn't call it starting where we left off either. It's in between.
"It's normal that we're not as good as we were during the playoffs," he added. "It's not normal that we're as bad as we've been so far."
The Spurs are also breaking in a new starting lineup, with Harper joining Fox and Castle in a three-guard backcourt. The combination has shown promise, but the pecking order remains a work in progress.
More broadly, the Spurs have struggled to sustain their intensity and attention to detail. A defense that helped fuel last season's run to the Finals has been uncharacteristically porous, while the offense is still finding its rhythm.
For now, the Spurs are focused less on their opponents than on the team most likely to beat them - themselves.
"That's the standard," Fox said. "It's less about the win or the loss column. It's about the way we go out and play."
That was the message Johnson delivered his team in the postgame locker room in Dallas, after a win that felt suspiciously like a loss.
His players say the message has been received.
"We have to trust the process and keep the big picture right now," Wembanyama said. "We're building. That's what the regular season is for. Each game matters. That's the sign of great teams."
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This article originally published at Why Mitch Johnson wouldn't let Spurs celebrate their first win .
Source: Sports
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