Last season, the Mavericks’ biggest flaw was painfully simple: when games got tight, they kept coming up short. This year, that same late-game stretch is starting to look like a strength, and Cooper Flagg is right at the center of it.
Dallas was in clutch territory constantly in 2025-26, playing 45 clutch games, tied for the most in the NBA. A team that finished 26-56 somehow found itself in one-possession games almost every other night, and it kept losing them.
The Mavericks went 17-28 in those situations, including 13 losses by two possessions or fewer. For a roster already lacking depth, that kind of failure in the closing minutes made a bad season feel even worse.
Flagg was part of that mess as a rookie, appearing in 39 of those clutch games. The numbers told the story of a young player figuring things out in real time: 2.3 points in clutch minutes, 43.1 percent shooting, 30 percent from 3-point range and a minus-0.8 net rating. Dallas was 15-24 with him on the floor in those situations.
Now, 11 games into his second season, the picture looks different.
Flagg has been on the court for four clutch games, and Dallas has won three of them. He’s averaging 6.8 points in those minutes while shooting 84.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep, with a plus-1.5 net rating.
The bigger story is how efficient he’s been when the pressure ramps up. Flagg ranks fourth in the NBA with 27 total clutch points, behind only Ty Jerome, Tyrese Maxey and Zion Williamson. His 89% true shooting in clutch minutes leads the top 10, and he’s done it in just 18 clutch minutes, less than half the time Williamson has needed.
That showed up most clearly in Dallas’ 125-122 win, when Flagg put up 43 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. The raw total was huge, but the timing mattered more.
He scored the Mavericks’ first 13 points of the fourth quarter, beginning with the basket that tied the game at 93, and he finished with 16 in the period. His basket with fewer than 30 seconds left stretched the lead to four and effectively sealed it.
Kyrie Irving added 35 points and seven 3-pointers, and the duo combined for 26 fourth-quarter points as Dallas outscored Indiana 35-29 in the final frame.
A similar script played out two weeks earlier in Miami. Flagg delivered 29 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks in a 113-109 win at Kaseya Center, with the decisive sequence coming when he closed out on Andrew Wiggins, blocked the 3-point try, then took the ball the other way and finished at the rim.
What makes this feel real is the way Flagg is getting his points. He’s not forcing tough isolation looks late.
He’s getting to the rim, drawing fouls and feeding off the gravity Irving creates. For a 19-year-old, that’s exactly the kind of growth Dallas needs in closing time.
The Mavericks are 7-4, and their ability to finish has been a major reason why. The team doesn’t seem to tighten up anymore when the game gets close. And after last season, that alone is a massive shift.
In Other News...
PJ Washington Just Entered A Trade Scenario Mavericks Fans Will Watch
A fresh layer of roster chatter has landed around PJ Washington, and Mavericks fans have reason to pay attention. Minnesota has already been busy reshaping its group this offseason, first swinging a major trade for LaMelo Ball from Charlotte in a package that included Naz Reid and multiple draft picks, then adding Jonathan Kuminga on a two-year free-agent deal.
Now the speculation has shifted toward a possible move involving Donte DiVincenzo and Washington, though nothing has been confirmed. For Dallas, the intrigue is obvious because Washington has become a name worth tracking anytime the trade market starts to move, and this is the kind of rumor that can change quickly depending on how serious the Timberwolves want to get about another roster shakeup. [Read more 🡒]
Cooper Flagg Sees One Big Difference In These Mavericks
The Mavericks have spent the past year remaking themselves after the firing of general manager Nico Harrison, and the early results have at least pointed in a better direction. Between the trades, the coaching changes and the front-office reshuffling, Dallas has opened this season 7-4, a far different place than the club was in at this point a year ago.
Cooper Flagg has been one of the players reflecting that shift, both in the way he is producing and in the way he describes the group around him. The rookie has pointed to a more positive atmosphere inside the locker room, a notable contrast from the heavier tone that came with last season's struggles, and it is one more sign that the Mavericks believe the reset is starting to take hold. [Read more 🡒]
Cooper Flagg Is Already Forcing The Mavericks To Rethink Everything
Cooper Flaggs second NBA season has already changed the conversation around the Mavericks. Through his first 10 games, he has been producing across the board at a level that looks far beyond a normal early-career leap, and the buzz around him has only grown as teammates and analysts watch his development accelerate in real time. What looked like a promising young piece is starting to feel like a player Dallas may need to build around sooner than expected.
The latest reminder came in a big scoring night against Indiana, when Flagg poured in 43 points and helped push Dallas to another win. The performance only added to the sense that his ceiling is rising fast, with talk already centering on his All-Star potential and his importance to the Mavericks long-term plans. For a team trying to sort out its direction, Flagg is making the future look a lot more immediate. [Read more 🡒]