Fans get first look at new NBA giant as Aussie’s spoil Victor Wembanyama’s debut

Australians Josh Green and Dante Exum have helped spoil No.1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama’s NBA debut in the Dallas Mavericks’ 126-119 road win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Wembanyama scored nine of his 15 points in the final period as the Spurs edged ahead in a tight tussle, before Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined to see the Mavs home.

Slovenian superstar Doncic became the third player in league history to have a 30-point triple-double in a season opener, tallying a game-high 33 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

Towering Frenchman Wembanyama is expected to dominate in the paint with his 224cm frame, but he did most of his damage from behind the arc, where he went three-for-five.

He also finished with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.

Green tallied 11 points and two rebounds from 30 minutes on court, while Exum had three points and one board in less than eight minutes on his NBA return after two years in Europe.

There were mixed fortunes for other Australians around the league, as a total of nine had teams in action on Thursday (AEDT).

Emerging star Josh Giddey enjoyed a productive opening to the new season, playing an important role in Oklahoma City’s 124-104 road win over the Chicago Bulls.

Giddey tallied 16 points, six rebounds and six assists in support of Thunder back-court partner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points, 10 assists).

The Melbourne product’s strong return came as fit-again countryman Ben Simmons gave a solid account of himself, but was left on the bench during the decisive final minutes of Brooklyn’s 114-113 home loss to Cleveland.

A three-time NBA All-Star, Simmons entered the new campaign with a point to prove after a horror couple of seasons - the most recent of which was cut short by knee and back injuries.

Before his body let him down, he averaged career lows of 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists.

But the 27-year-old guard’s regular-season comeback could be seen as a step in the right direction after his promising pre-season.

Simmons finished narrowly short of a double-double with four points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 23 minutes on court.

He made just two-of-six field-goal attempts - one of them an alley-oop dunk on a pass from Mikal Bridges.

Brooklyn teammate Cam Thomas scored a game-high 36 points - the most ever by a Nets player off the bench in a season opener - but was off-balance when he missed the final shot from long range.

Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus led the Cavs with 27 points each.

Mitchell was the game-winner with 10 points in the final six minutes, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 12.7 seconds left.

Australian veteran Joe Ingles went scoreless and finished with four rebounds and five assists as his Orlando Magic beat Jock Landale’s Houston Rockets 116-86.

Landale had three points and two assists, while Dyson Daniels finished with six points and five rebounds in New Orleans’ 111-104 road win over Memphis.

Title contenders Boston edged New York 108-104 as Kristaps Porzingis made a tie-breaking three-pointer with 1:29 to play and scored 30 points on his Celtics debut against his original team.