De Larrea turns emergency minutes into his first NBA statement

What changed

Sergio de Larrea entered five minutes into the home opener and quickly gave Dallas something it was missing: a guard willing to organize the possession and still attack his own matchup. He finished with a team-high 21 points, five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes, making 9 of 15 shots and 3 of 4 from three.

His best stretch powered the comeback. De Larrea scored 13 before halftime, then hit two more threes as Dallas cut a 14-point third-quarter deficit and took an 85-84 lead. Matt Martinez of Mavs Moneyball detailed the touch shots, transition connection with Daniel Gafford and confidence against San Antonio’s changing defenders; Mike Maestre of AS noted that the Spurs tried De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle on him.

The four turnovers belong in the evaluation too. One productive night does not settle a rotation, especially when Flagg and Irving were unavailable. But it gives Dusty May a real piece of evidence: de Larrea can absorb primary-ballhandler responsibility against NBA length without shrinking from it.