The Dallas Mavericks walked into Friday night’s NBA Cup matchup with the Houston Rockets looking for more than just another early-season win. They got a fourth meeting with a familiar opponent, and after a messy, tense finish, they came away with a 116-111 victory that pushed them to 4-2 and handed Houston its first loss.
It took a little while for Dallas to settle in, but Cooper Flagg came out intent on making a point. He scored 12 of the Mavericks’ first 18 points, with Daniel Gafford getting the first four before Flagg ripped off 12 of the next 14. That burst helped Dallas stay level early and set up an 11-2 run that put the Mavs ahead 27-20 after the first quarter.
The next stretch wasn’t exactly a beauty contest. Dallas struggled on the glass and couldn’t get much going offensively, finishing the second quarter 5/20 from the field.
The Mavericks also went four minutes without a field goal, and a foul by Flagg on Jabari Smith Jr. on a corner three only added to the frustration. Houston took control of the period and carried a 51-44 lead into halftime.
The Rockets stretched things further in the third. Kyrie Irving scored Dallas’ first eight points of the half, but the offense mostly dried up after that. Kevin Durant hammered home a dunk to give Houston its first double-digit lead at 10, and while Zaccharie Risacher hit a pair of big threes and Flagg kept battling for tough baskets, turnovers from Walter Clayton Jr. helped the Rockets stay ahead 84-76 entering the fourth.
That’s when Irving took over.
He scored or assisted on five of Dallas’ first six baskets of the final period, and the last of those was a deep three that put the Mavericks back in front 91-88. Houston had opened the quarter by making just 1/11 shots, and that cold spell gave Dallas the opening it needed. With Flagg on the bench for part of that push, the Mavericks eventually brought him back in around the 5:30 mark to give Irving a breather.
The closing minutes turned into a free-throw and shot-making battle. Dallas missed key foul shots and gave up extra possessions, and Fred VanVleet buried a corner three after Clint Capela grabbed an offensive rebound to tie the game at 96.
Flagg answered with back-to-back baskets, but VanVleet tied it again after the timeout. Irving then hit a tough pull-up, Kevin Durant missed back-to-back free throws, and Flagg converted an and-one to push the lead to five.
There was still more drama coming. Gafford briefly left after landing on Durant’s foot, though he returned soon after.
Durant trimmed the margin to two, and then came the sequence that lit up the finish: Amen Thompson ran through Irving and was originally called for a charge, but Houston challenged and the call was overturned. Thompson then missed both free throws.
Ball don’t lie. Then Flagg answered with a difficult shot over Tari Eason to make it a four-point game with 24 seconds left.
Jabari Smith Jr. hit a tough three, Gafford made both of his free throws, and Dallas survived the final foul game.
Irving was the story down the stretch. He finished with 35 points and 9 assists, including 16 points in the fourth quarter, and this was the version of him Dallas had been waiting to see. He looked far more like the Kyrie Irving everyone knew before the injury, knocking down deep threes, finishing with both hands at the rim, and getting to his mid-range pull-ups.
Flagg was huge too, but Walter Clayton Jr. had the kind of night Dallas would rather forget. He had turned in 13 points against the Miami Heat on Monday, but against Houston he struggled badly and coughed up three turnovers in the final four minutes of the third quarter while Marcus Smart went after him.
With Sergio De Larrea out because of a knee sprain and Marcus Sasser ineffective in the first half, the Mavericks’ lack of proven playmaking was laid bare at times. Even so, they kept finding ways to survive. Their 4-2 start now includes wins over the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, OKC Thunder, and Rockets.
That matters because this was the first time Dallas had really stared down a heavyweight. The Pacers and Heat have stumbled early, and the Thunder were missing Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren. Houston was without Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams, but erasing an 11-point deficit against a 5-0 team still stands out.
The road ahead looks more manageable. Dallas’ next six games are against Sacramento, at San Antonio, against Utah, against Brooklyn, against Indiana, and at Minnesota, which is without Anthony Edwards. A 9-3 record doesn’t sound far-fetched if this group keeps playing like this.
The roster has flaws, no question. But with Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving, plus a strong offensive system with Dusty May, the Mavericks already look like a team that may be better than plenty of people expected.
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Mavericks Finally Answered Houston With The Kind Of Win Fans Needed
The Mavericks finally got the response they were looking for at American Airlines Center, outlasting the Rockets 116-111 and handing Houston its first loss of the season. It was the kind of win Dallas needed after a rocky stretch, with Kyrie Irving taking control and Cooper Flagg giving the home crowd plenty to cheer about in a game that had the feel of an early measuring stick.
Irving poured in a season-high 35 points, while Flagg added 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a performance that showed just how much Dallas can lean on its top-end talent when the pressure rises. Houston still had its chances behind Kevin Durants 28 points, but the late moments tilted Dallas way, and the Mavericks also had to navigate a tense finish with Daniel Gafford battling through a rolled ankle. [Read more 🡒]
Zaccharie Risacher Is Giving The Mavericks Something They Suddenly Need
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Risachers early impact is especially important because the Mavericks are looking for more stability from their bench, and he has already started to carve out a useful role. The organization has clearly seen enough to invest in his future, a sign that this stretch is being viewed as more than a hot start. For now, the bigger question is how far his development can go from here, and whether the current version is only the beginning of a more complete player. [Read more 🡒]
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Powell spent nearly his entire 12-year NBA career in Dallas, becoming one of the most familiar faces of the franchise over that stretch. Fenerbahce also offers a high-level stage, with a roster that includes several former NBA players, but the move marks a major change for a veteran who built his reputation in Dallas and is now set for a very different kind of basketball environment. [Read more 🡒]