Dylan Harper collected the rebound off Irving’s missed fifteen-footer with 2.5 seconds left. The ball was finally secure for San Antonio, and Dallas had no scoring answer left in a 112-111 loss. Harper’s last touch was easy to overlook alongside Victor Wembanyama’s huge night, but his work had already helped the Spurs through a game in which much of their supporting cast struggled to score.
Wembanyama supplied 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks. San Antonio still needed a second reliable scorer, because Devin Vassell went 0-for-8 from the field, Julian Champagnie went 0-for-6 and the Spurs finished 5-for-36 from three-point range. Harper answered that problem with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting, five rebounds and a plus-8 rating in 36 minutes.
His line was not perfect. Harper had no assists and turned the ball over twice. But San Antonio did not need him to imitate Wembanyama or run every possession. It needed someone who could make a shot when the game stopped being comfortable. Harper did that repeatedly, then handled the last defensive task.
The key scoring play arrived at 4:31. Dallas had just moved ahead 103-100 on P.J. Washington’s three at 5:38, only for Wembanyama to answer with his lone made three of the night 18 seconds later. After the Mavericks missed several subsequent attempts, Harper drove for a layup that put San Antonio in front 105-103.
That basket mattered because it came during a stretch when the game had escaped Wembanyama’s usual control. Dallas had erased a 19-point deficit and was finding enough offense to make San Antonio’s early advantage look temporary. Harper’s finish restored the Spurs’ lead without requiring another spectacular rescue from their center.
Wembanyama soon resumed the rescue work. He scored on a layup at 3:15, then rebounded Stephon Castle’s missed three and converted at 2:39 to make the score 109-106. When Washington blocked Harper’s 2-foot running layup at 1:49, the Mavericks had defended the initial attempt. Wembanyama grabbed the offensive rebound and tipped in the follow-up at 1:47.
Harper did not get credit for that basket, but his attack placed the Spurs in position for another second chance. The sequence also illustrated the different jobs San Antonio required from its best players. Wembanyama controlled the glass and punished Dallas around the basket; Harper supplied a driving threat that kept the offense from becoming a one-man exhibit.
Dallas made the game difficult enough to expose San Antonio’s dependence on those two players. The Spurs led 68-51 at halftime and 90-80 after three quarters, yet the Mavericks won the second half 60-44.
Naji Marshall scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, Cooper Flagg followed a 1-for-11 first half with 15 points after halftime, and Washington’s three briefly gave Dallas its first lead since the opening period.