The Mavericks unveiled their new ham-and-egg offense on opening night.

With a side of sizzling bacon named Klay Thompson.

The power trio of Thompson, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving combined to score 65 points to lead the Mavericks to a season-opening 120-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at the American Airlines Center.

Thompson made six three-pointers, the most ever for a Maverick in their debut for the franchise.

He finished with 22 points and the Mavericks got a lot of punch from Dončić with 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Irving had 15 points, but didn’t have to step foot on the court in the fourth quarter.

And as impressive as it was, it was just the first of 82 steps the Mavericks had to take to get back to the playoffs.

“It’s one game,” Thompson said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Tonight was a good start. But I’m not satisfied. We have so much basketball ahead of us. You can never be too high during the regular season.

“We have very big goals. One good home win won’t do us any favors. We really want to be good this year and get back to where they were last year.

He saw his first mid-range bucket rattle around the hoop and fall through. Then he scored a three-pointer on a quick release from the corner and the hot shooting was on. He finished hitting six of 10 from beyond the arc.

“The feelings were a lot of nerves, anxiety. But when you see one go through after a few minutes, you feel great,” Thompson said. “A great debut. It’s only one game in October, but it feels good to get the first one out of the way. And setting a record is always a great feeling and something I will never take for granted.”

The Mavericks took control of the game in the third quarter. A season opener that was like many season openers – not particularly sharp, but still entertaining – turned in their favor with something that certainly put a smile on Jason Kidd’s face.

Their defense.

By forcing turnovers on three consecutive San Antonio possessions in the third quarter, the Mavericks broke open a three-point game, going up by 14 and that gave them enough of a cushion to fend off the Spurs’ pressure the rest of the way.

“It was a good team effort,” Kidd said. “That first half, anxious, excited. Defensively we were able to keep ourselves close. That second half, when Luka, Kai and Klay were able to take the full field, we got some deflections and steals. Our defense helped us win this game by a whopping 120 points. A good team victory that we can build on. We still have a lot to learn.”

As Thompson said of the defense, “It was incredible, especially early in the second half when I went full field and caused some turnovers. I thought this would change the game in our favor.”

Not that the Mavericks are a finished product at all. They didn’t shoot particularly well (41.2 percent), but they did get hot in the second half, making their three-point accuracy look great (43.2 percent).

“I think we can play much better than that,” Dončić said. “It’s our first game together. It will take time to get used to it, which is normal. I’m really excited about the whole season.

“I was terrible. I was rusty the whole first half. Things opened up a bit in the third quarter. The legs were back.”

It was Luka’s first competitive match since playing with Slovenia in the Olympic qualifying tournament in July. He missed the entire preseason.

Above all, what the opener was was an excellent example of how the powerful backcourt trio can split the scoring.

Not to be missed was Dereck Lively II, who did quite well against Spurs star Victor Wembanyama with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Wembanyama, the second-year center and reigning Rookie of the Year, struggled to get off to a flying start offensively, missing six 3-pointers before finally making one.

He would finish with 13 points and nine rebounds.

The Mavericks went from a 56-53 lead to a 69-55 lead with their defensive prowess in the third quarter. Spurs stayed close. The Mavericks led 87-80 entering the fourth quarter.

When Luka hit a three-pointer and the Spurs inexplicably left Thompson wide open enough to take a dribble and set up a three-pointer on the next possession, the Mavericks trailed by 14 at 97–83.

The opening night results were nothing like what the Mavericks expect in two, three or six months. Smooth operators, they weren’t.

But it was a positive start, especially for Thompson.

Even San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who coached Thompson on the U.S. men’s national team, said he thought the fit was perfect for Thompson and the Mavericks.

When asked before the game for his initial reaction to the Mavericks acquiring Thompson, Popovich said, “Oh my God, how did they do that.”

He embellished a bit, but he did say he had a second glass of wine afterwards, but not to celebrate.

Regardless, expectations were high on everyone’s minds when it came to seeing the new Mavericks product for the first time.

It wasn’t always pretty. But that’s what happens in most season openers.

But the final score was certainly a thing of beauty for the Mavericks.

X: @ESefko