Australians Patty Mills and Aron Baynes joined teammates in receiving their championship rings before the San Antonio Spurs began their NBA title defence with a 101-100 win over Dallas Mavericks in a Texas derby.
Star point guard Tony Parker scored 23 points to lead the hosts to victory on the season’s opening night.
Baynes went on to play a supporting role for the Spurs, collecting four points and two rebounds in his 17 minutes on court while Mills remains sidelined until at least January following off-season shoulder surgery.
The Spurs rolled to their fifth NBA title in June by dismantling the LeBron James-led Miami Heat after edging past Texas state rivals the Mavericks in an epic seven-game series in the Western Conference semi-finals.
Tuesday night’s season-opener was just as tight.
“We moved the ball much better in the second half,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who came off the bench to score 20 points.
“The defence was great. Tony had a couple of big baskets, it was a very close game. Anything could have happened.”
The San Antonio players received their championship rings in a pre-game ceremony which also included raising their fifth championship banner.
“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 (calf injury) and Mills.
San Antonio have now won 10 straight regular-season games over the Mavericks, including eight straight at home.
Earlier Anthony Davis fell one block shy of a triple-double as the New Orleans Pelicans pulled away from the Orlando Magic for a 101-84 home win.
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