No. 31 is in full swing for the Dallas Mavericks.
While Mavs fans already have the legend of Jason Terry deep into their memories, they believe new ones can be made after a debut from one of the best shooters to ever play the game. It didn't take long for Klay Thompson to get going. It also didn't take long to show us why the Mavericks have a strong case for another NBA Finals return.
NBA analysts are already predicting the Mavericks to go to unimaginable new heights.
The game, nationally televised on TNT, was a great chance to showcase the Mavericks against Victor Wembanyama in his highly anticipated sophomore season. With respect to Wembanyama, that spotlight was limited thanks to an excellent defensive game plan against him as Jason Kidd threw multiple different defenders at him and they guarded him with toughness and physicality.
O'Neal backs Mavs' Finals return with Thompson leading the charge
While Luka Doncic also ended up having a good game, the new star in Dallas, Klay Thompson, quickly took over and heated up like an "NBA Jam" video game.
Thompson is the ultimate motto of the phrase, "shooters shoot." That's exactly what he accomplished last night with a Mavericks record for most 3-pointers made in a franchise debut with six. He finished with 22 points on 6-10 shooting from downtown, and his performance caught the eye of many across the NBA world.
It also didn't take long for the NBA on TNT post-it notes to come back.
Of course, NBA analysts have been known to overreact in the first week of the regular season. NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal claims Thompson was the missing piece all along because they needed a third scorer. O'Neal thinks that Dallas will win the Finals if Thompson can average 20 points per game.
O'Neal has always been high on the Mavericks, actually picking Dallas to win the NBA Finals last season.
This is an interesting early take from O'Neal. Considering the Mavs stay healthy for most of the season, and if Thompson were to average 20 points, this could be deadly for the rest of the league.
Looking at a raw perspective, if Doncic averages around 30 points, Kyrie Irving can help out with 23 points, and Thompson can add 20, that's 96 points right there from the new big three alone.
The premise of O'Neal's argument is that Thompson was the missing third piece all along. His presence adds something that Doncic has not seen in his NBA career until now.
In regards to Doncic, he should be thanking Thompson for helping him out last night. Doncic had a near triple-double in stats, but it turns out, Doncic doesn't need to do that every night because of the support from those around him.
Would a scoring title help out the resume? Sure, but it's not as necessary this time around.
While Thompson is lifting a weight off of Doncic's chest, the team should continue to focus on playing team ball and getting good looks from beyond the arc.
We knew Thompson would get plenty of good looks whenever Dallas signed him, but we didn't know they would be this open. His debut laid a great foundation for what's to come for the rest of the season, and he could end up being the Mavs' X-factor to play June basketball for the second year in a row.
