‘Shots Will Fall’: Cooper Flagg Scores 20 In First Half As Dallas Mavericks Lead Brooklyn Nets 66-46 At Halftime

DALLAS — Two nights after going 2-of-8 in the first half against the Utah Jazz, Cooper Flagg scored 20 points before halftime Sunday night. The Dallas Mavericks took a 66-46 lead over the Brooklyn Nets into the break at American Airlines Center.

Flagg went 7-of-10 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range, and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line, and he added 4 rebounds and 7 assists in the half. It was the 15th 20-point half of his career. One more rebound would have made it his first 20-5-5 half. He and Luka Dončić are the only players with a 20-point, 7-assist half this season.

Flagg entered Sunday 17-of-54 from the field over his previous three games. Before tip-off, Mavericks coach Dusty May said Dallas would not dwell on which quarters go well for him.

“With Coop, when you look at his body of work, you look at his points, his rebounds, his numbers, his assists, he’s having a phenomenal year,” May said. “Sometimes this quarter is a little bit better than others. Sometimes the ball’s not dropping with the same shot. So we’re just trying to really focus on the process of getting incrementally better each and every day, and not overthinking anything else. Our plan with Coop is just have an obsessive approach to getting better and not dwelling on first and fourth quarters or second or thirds.”

On Friday, Flagg scored 15 of his 21 points in the third quarter of a 112-100 win over Utah. He said afterward that the shots he is comfortable taking had not been falling.

“I just stayed the course. Shots will fall,” Flagg said. “And I got to give a lot of credit to my teammates. Obviously, I’ve been struggling a little bit from the field, and I think a lot of the shots that I’m very comfortable taking and making haven’t been going in.”

“So, a lot of credit to my teammates just keeping me in good spirits and keeping my head up high,” Flagg added. “Just making sure I know that they believe in me has been a big thing, and just trusting that, trusting the effort, just doing the little things to get myself going, and found some energy, and was able to just make some plays.”

Dallas Mavericks Shoot 61.9% In The First Half Against The Brooklyn Nets

Dallas made 26 of its 42 shots in the half, including 6 of 15 from three-point range, and scored 36 points in the paint. The Mavericks had 16 assists and 15 fast-break points.

Dallas led 33-26 after one quarter and outscored Brooklyn 33-20 in the second. A 10-0 run pushed the lead to 54-32, and the Mavericks led by as many as 26 points.

Dallas’ reserves outscored Brooklyn’s 26-7. Naji Marshall had 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting, Zaccharie Risacher scored 6 on 3-of-4 shooting, and Daniel Gafford added 7 points and 2 blocks.

Michael Porter Jr. Leads The Nets At The Half

Michael Porter Jr. had 16 points and 7 rebounds for Brooklyn, going 4-of-10 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and 5-of-7 at the line. The Nets went 15-of-39 from the field and 5-of-18 from three in the half.

Nolan Traoré added 9 points, and Danny Wolf had 5 against his former college coach. Before the game, May pointed back to the early errors that let Victor Wembanyama get going in San Antonio on Nov. 4.

“But just shooters seeing one go in, so just challenge all their touches, push them off their spots, and show them crowds, and don’t give them anything easy,” May explained. “Don’t let them see the ball go in the basket in the first couple minutes, and that will help our chances.”

The Mavericks entered Sunday at 5-4. They host the Indiana Pacers on Monday at 7 p.m. CT to close the back-to-back.