‘Get To My Spots’: Cooper Flagg Scores 33 In 75th Game As Dallas Mavericks Hand Houston Rockets First Loss

DALLAS — Cooper Flagg hit a 13-foot turnaround with 24.3 seconds left on Friday night to put the Dallas Mavericks up 109-105 on the Houston Rockets. He finished with 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in a 116-111 win at American Airlines Center, playing in the 75th regular-season game of his career.

Flagg shot 13-of-19 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line, with 2 steals, a block, and 3 turnovers in 38 minutes, 53 seconds. He scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first quarter and added 11 in the fourth. Kyrie Irving scored 35, including 26 after halftime, as Dallas won its third straight and gave Houston its first loss in six games.

It was also Flagg’s third consecutive game with at least 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Luka Dončić is the only other teenager in NBA history with a three-game run like that.

The Rockets had cut a five-point Dallas lead to 107-105 when Kevin Durant made a free throw and a 16-footer in the final 61 seconds. Amen Thompson then missed two free throws with 42 seconds to go, and Dallas came out of the miss with the ball.

“Just being confident, get to my spots and living with the result,” Flagg said. “[That’s] something [I] talked about last year, and it’s gonna continue to be a thing. All the great players are able to just get to their spots and raise up and knock them down. So that’s what I’m trying to do. Just get to my spots and we’ll live with [the] outcome.”

Irving missed all of Flagg’s rookie season while recovering from the torn ACL in his left knee. Irving has played in five of Dallas’ first six games this season, and so has Flagg, who missed an Oct. 24 loss to the San Antonio Spurs with a shoulder injury.

“I talked to him a lot about it last year. Try to learn from him from the mental side,” Flagg said of Irving. “But I think more and more as we’ve gone into this year, being able to see it in person and on the court from him and be able to learn from the experience has been really cool too.”

“Yeah, it’s felt great. Obviously, he’s just so fun to play off of,” Flagg explained. “I’ve talked about his gravity a lot, so it makes the game easy.”

Cooper Flagg’s Milestones Through 75 Games

Flagg now has 1,607 career points. Only Dončić, with 1,614, scored more for the Mavericks through his first 75 games, and Flagg’s other career totals stand at 496 rebounds, 349 assists, 97 steals, and 70 blocks.

His three straight 25-5-5 games also tie Dončić, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, for the most such games by any player in the league this season. Each of them has three.

Friday was the 13th 30-point game of Flagg’s career. That is the second-most by a teenager in NBA history, and only LeBron James, with 20, had more.

It was also Flagg’s seventh game with at least 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. James had 11 such games as a teenager, the only one ahead of him on that list.

Since the start of the 2025-26 season, Flagg’s 13 games of 30 or more points are tied for the 25th-most in the league. No other player in that group is under 21 years old.

Flagg was named the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 70 games. Dallas went 26-56 that season, and he entered Friday averaging 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 2.8 steals in 30.8 minutes through four games.

“I just think the confidence is continuing to grow and grow, and I feel like I’m just more comfortable at this point,” Flagg said. “I think having the year of earning all my peers’, earning their respect, is a big thing for me. I feel like at this point, it feels comfortable, and I know where I wanna get to and what I wanna do out there.”

Friday’s game had 9 lead changes and 10 ties. The last tie came at 100 with 2:26 remaining.

“Just being comfortable. You need those game-like experiences. There’s nothing like it,” Flagg said. “The crowd loud, everybody excited, coming down. There’s a lot of mental things that you can do to affect a game like that down the stretch. So just learn from that last year and try to put it to use.”

Flagg And Irving Split The Closing Load

Flagg assisted on Irving’s 17-foot pull-up that broke the 100-100 tie with 2:08 left. Irving set up Flagg 28 seconds later for a 13-foot floater, and Flagg’s free throw on the and-one made it 105-100.

Flagg is 19, and Irving is in his 15th NBA season. Mavericks coach Dusty May had both on the floor for the final 3:14 of the fourth quarter.

“What a problem, where you’re in a pickle where two guys like that just have it going and you just gotta kinda rotate between putting the ball in each other’s hands and knowing that they’re gonna make the plays,” May said. “So obviously, what a luxury for us. And once again, they both trust their teammates. When [they] used to put two on the ball and they were determined to take it out of their hands, they continue to trust and trust and trust, and then those reps and that experience, those guys handled it better.”

At halftime, Flagg had 15 points and Irving had 9. After the break, Irving outscored Flagg 26-18, and the Mavericks outscored Houston 72-60.

“That’s great. We have a lot of stars. Guys are being stars in their roles,” Flagg said. “And I think that’s what we’re seeing as we’ve started to get a couple wins here early, is just guys really just sacrificing and being a star in the role. And guys like Zacch, P.J., Gaff, those guys are all stars in their roles, and they’re vital to our success.”

“But it’s felt great to have Kai out there, someone that just, I mean, puts the ball in the basket better than the best of them,” Flagg continued. “So it’s been a pleasure to have somebody else out there just relieving the pressure as well.”

Dallas finished with 24 assists on 42 made field goals. Irving had 9 of them, and Flagg had 6.

“It’s not a perfect formula. And obviously, I think we’re still working out a lot of the kinks and figuring out how we can help each other best,” Flagg said. “And there’s been a lot of moments where we realize that we can help each other more out there on the court together. So it’s been a lot of learning experiences, and it’s been a pleasure to be able to play alongside him and learn from him out there.”

“But I think there’s still more and more that we can do to help each other, alleviate some pressure, and continue to just learn how to play together and make it easier for one another,” Flagg added.

Dallas is 4-2 and hosts the Sacramento Kings on Monday at American Airlines Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT.