Spurs in bright start to title defence

Cory Joseph #5 of the San Antonio Spurs drives with the ball against James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets during their preseason game at Toyota Center on October 24, 2014 in Houston, Texas. Spurs picked up right where they left off, collecting their championship rings before beginning their title defence on October 28, 2014 with a 101-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. FILE PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The Spurs, despite their superb record in ring ceremony games, needed every minute of the contest to hold off their Texas-state rivals, who gave them their most difficult challenge of last year’s playoffs.
  • The Spurs rolled to their fifth NBA title in June by dismantling the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. But first they had to get past the Mavericks in an epic seven-game series in the Western Conference semi-finals.

LOS ANGELES
The San Antonio Spurs picked up right where they left off, collecting their championship rings before beginning their title defence on Tuesday with a 101-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Spurs, despite their superb record in ring ceremony games, needed every minute of the contest to hold off their Texas-state rivals, who gave them their most difficult challenge of last year’s playoffs.

“We moved the ball much better in the second half,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who came off the bench to score 20 points in one of three opening-night NBA contests.

“The defence was great. Tony had a couple of big baskets and it was a very close game. Anything could have happened.”

The Spurs rolled to their fifth NBA title in June by dismantling the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. But first they had to get past the Mavericks in an epic seven-game series in the Western Conference semi-finals.

LAKERS EMBARRASSED

Tuesday’s three-game set to start the 2014-15 regular season also saw Anthony Davis fall one block shy of a triple-double as the New Orleans Pelicans pulled away from the Orlando Magic for a 101-84 home win.

In the late game, Houston spoiled the return of Kobe Bryant, who only played in a handful of games last season, as the Rockets embarrassed the Los Angeles Lakers 108-90 at Staples Center arena.

San Antonio received their championship rings in a pre-game ceremony which also included raising their fifth championship banner in franchise history. The Spurs are now 5-0 in games where they received their championship rings.

“The ring ceremony got me emotional,” said Ginobili. “This is a great start. I can’t complain.”

Parker scored the go ahead three-pointer with under a minute left. Ginobili also had six assists off the bench and Tim Duncan totalled 14 points and 13 rebounds for San Antonio.

Monta Ellis led Dallas with 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting and Dirk Nowitzki added 18 points with six rebounds in the loss.

San Antonio returned almost everyone from last year’s team but they had to play the season-opener without NBA finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who is sidelined by a right eye infection.

Tiago Splitter also sat with a calf injury and Australian Patty Mills will miss the first few months after shoulder surgery.

“Overall, we did a pretty good job playing without Kawhi, Tiago and Patty. Three guys who are very important to our team,” said Parker. “It was a big win for us.”