Although it took him a long time to refine his aim, Luka Doncic (32 points) ended up keeping Dallas afloat until the end, where he ended up nailing the knee in front of renewed Suns (106-102).
A day in which his former Real Madrid teammate Facundo Campazzo scored his first points, but also savored defeat (122-124 against Sacramento) and where Antetokounmpo, the man with the biggest contract in NBA history, failed a free throw that ended up dooming the Bucks.
The Slovenian signed a first half with little luck towards the basket, since he only scored five of 15 in shots for a total of 13 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first two quarters.
However, after the break, Doncic found inspiration again and finished the game as the Mavericks' leading scorer with 32 points (11 of 26 shooting), eight rebounds and five assists.
However, the contribution of the point guard was not enough against the Suns who, after their very meritorious passage through the Orlando "bubble", this year aspire to higher levels.
Devin Booker
and
Mikal Bridges
, with 22 and 18 points, respectively, were the most effective of the Suns, who knew how to remain calm in a game that they dominated with a very tight score from start to finish.
In the last quarter, Jalen Brunson's effervescence coupled with Doncic's success managed to equalize the game (for the Mavericks (96-96) with less than four minutes to go. But two baskets from
Paul
and
Booker
plus a providential offensive rebound from Bridges submitted the last rebellious attempts of the Mavericks.
Discreet debut of Campazzo
Facundo Campazzo made his debut with the Nuggets and suffered the first loss after losing at home in overtime 122-124 to the Kings.
However, the Argentine, in the eight minutes he received from Nuggets coach Michael Malone, scored the only shot he made to the basket, which was a triple.
Campazzo jumped onto the court as part of the Nuggets' second unit with four minutes remaining in the first quarter, but was not very fortunate and returned to the bench shortly after the second quarter began.
The point guard returned to play with three minutes remaining in the third quarter and hit a triple, assisted by
Nikola Jokic
, on his first and only shot to the basket.
In addition, he forced a loss for the Kings and provided some electricity to some disoriented Nuggets who faced the fourth quarter under (84-89) and without Campazzo on the track.
Jokic was the lighthouse of the Nuggets offense and posted his first triple-double of the season with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists.
Tatum takes down the Bucks
With a decisive triple from their star Jayson Tatum, the Celtics defeated the Bucks (122-121) of Giannis Antetokounmpo (35 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks).
Tatum, who finished with 30 points and seven rebounds, assumed the last possession of his team with a 120-119 deficit, under the marking of Antetokounmpo, the best defender last year.
The young forward stepped aside to gain space against the Greek and nailed a spectacular triple to the board with just 0.4 seconds left.
Antetokounmpo, the MVP of the past two seasons, was fouled on the final play and had two free throws to force overtime but missed the second pitch and the Bucks suffered their first loss 122-121.
"Since I was a child I wanted to be in this position," Tatum said of the last play, in which he took responsibility despite having a rare 43% accuracy (12 of 28 in field goals).
"I don't know what my shooting percentage was, but I know I played awful," the 22-year-old forward said.
"But it's a team game, everyone contributed."
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