Wembanyama scores 23 as Spurs beat Mavericks for first win of NBA season

Victor Wembanyama has scored 23 points as the visiting San Antonio Spurs have earned their first win of the season by defeating the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 122-106 in the second of back-to-back games for both teams.

Dylan Harper added 22 points on Saturday, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle scored 19 each, Julian Champagnie scored 12 off the bench and Devin Vassell tallied 11 points for San Antonio. Wembanyama also posted seven rebounds and four blocks.

Rookie Sergio De Larrea’s 21 points led Dallas. Marcus Sasser, PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford scored 12 apiece, Zaccharie Risacher had 11 and Naji Marshall contributed 10.

San Antonio led 68-60 at the break behind Fox’s 15 points, 12 from Wembanyama and 11 by Castle. De Larrea paced the Mavericks with 13 points off the bench with Washington and Marshall adding 10 each.

The Spurs expanded their lead to 14 early in the third before Dallas roared back, scoring 22 of the ensuing 29 points and regaining the lead at 85-84. The game went to the fourth quarter with San Antonio up 92-89 as Castle and Wembanyama hit late threes.

Joel Embiid recorded his 10th career triple-double, and Jaylen Brown scored 27 points on his 30th birthday to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 127-116 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Embiid finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Philadelphia.

Tyrese Maxey pitched in with 26 points for the Sixers while VJ Edgecombe made five three-pointers as part of a 17-point, 13-rebound performance.

While the Sixers are 3-0 on the young season, the Bucks fell to 0-3 despite eight players scoring in double figures. Jaime Jaquez Jr led Milwaukee with 21 points while Kel’el Ware had 19 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for the visitors.

The teams were tied at 82-82 with four minutes left in the third quarter before the Sixers ended the period on a 15-5 push. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Maxey each made a three-pointer during that surge.

Philadelphia started to pull away early in the fourth.

Embiid’s jumper gave the hosts a 113-98 lead with six minutes left. The Sixers still held a comfortable advantage at 117-108 with 3:18 to go before the Bucks rattled off six in a row in just over a minute to make it a three-point game.

Philadelphia knocked down five three-pointers in the first quarter – three by Edgecombe – en route to a 34-25 lead after 12 minutes.

Devin Booker had 43 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, and the host Phoenix Suns beat Golden State 131-122 to send the Warriors to their worst start of a season in almost two decades.

Miles Bridges scored 16 points, and Dillon Brooks added 15 points for the Suns, setting a franchise record for points in a home opener.

Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had 26 points and nine rebounds, and De’Anthony Melton scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half for the skeleton-crew Warriors.

Golden State was without starters Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski and Draymond Green and reserve Al Horford.

Brandon Williams added 20 points while Lendeborg made six of the Warriors’ 17 three-pointers and Melton had four.

Melton scored 13 points in the third quarter when the Warriors used a 12-0 run to take a 73-71 lead before the Suns came back. Booker’s four-point play with 35 seconds left in the third quarter made it 99-89 for Phoenix.

Luke Kennard’s three-pointer pushed the Suns’ lead to 117-102 with 6:07 remaining in the game.

Kennard had 11 points and three three-pointers in his Suns debut after missing the season opener with a knee injury.

The Warriors made 17 of 39 three-pointers and turned 19 offensive rebounds into 26 points.

Lendeborg had six points on a pair of threes, and Graham Ike had six points and five rebounds in the first quarter when the Warriors took an early seven-point lead and had a 25-22 edge at the end of the quarter.