‘How Good Of A Passer’: Dusty May Recalls First Impression Of Cooper Flagg After Career-High 12 Assists In Dallas Mavericks’ Rout Of Brooklyn Nets

DALLAS — Six different Dallas Mavericks scored off Cooper Flagg passes Sunday night as he set a career high with 12 assists. Flagg also scored 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting in a 130-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets at American Airlines Center.

His old career high was 11, a number he put up as recently as Oct. 26 at Miami. Sunday was Flagg’s ninth game under Mavericks coach Dusty May, who won the 2026 national championship at Michigan before Dallas hired him in June.

May said Flagg keeps putting in the time, and his processes are getting better.

“That was the first thing that impressed me when I studied him and watched him, was I was shocked at how good of a passer he was and what type of court vision,” May said. “And so he’s just getting incrementally better. He’s putting in the time. I think his processes are improving. And so he’s not always going to play great each and every night, but he’s such a competitor.”

“He’s gonna play hard, and majority of the games, he’s gonna be able to perform like he did tonight,” May continued.

Flagg had 7 assists in the second quarter, when Dallas outscored Brooklyn 33-20, and 5 more in the third. Daniel Gafford finished 5 of his 7 baskets off Flagg passes. Zaccharie Risacher and Santi Aldama scored twice each on his feeds, and Naji Marshall, P.J. Washington, and Kyrie Irving each hit a 3-pointer off one.

The game was Flagg’s third straight double-double and his fourth this season. He came in averaging a team-high 6.4 assists.

Dusty May On The Defense Dallas Sees Every Day In Practice

Dallas switches often on defense, and Brooklyn plays an almost identical system, May said. The Mavericks see those looks every day in practice.

“Just making the right decisions,” May explained. “That’s one thing that with Coop, you can play over the top of the defense, and so when they play our almost identical system defensively. And so we’ve seen it every day in practice. So we’re more equipped to attack it than early in the season.”

“But just his court vision, his unselfishness, lends itself to him having a lot of games like this,” May added.

Irving scored 21 points, and Washington made both of his 3-point attempts in the third quarter. When Flagg finds creases, May said, Irving’s play takes a help-side defender away and opens bigger holes for Gafford and Washington.

“Each game is going to be different as well,” May said. “Some teams are going to fan out and make him score, and he’s more than able to do that, especially in the paint with his pivoting and his athleticism and his feel.”

“But when there’s creases in the defense, and obviously when Kai’s playing as well as he is, that takes basically help-side defender away and makes those gaps and holes even bigger for Gaff and P.J.,” May noted. “And I thought they did a nice job. P.J. making shots, now they’re more concerned with him out to 25 feet, and that gives us even more space. So it all goes hand in hand. We just got to continue to take what the game gives us.”

Cooper Flagg, Daniel Gafford On The Gravity Behind The Assists

Caleb Martin, in his second straight start, was part of one sequence that began with Irving getting out of a double team. Flagg said he flashed into the play and found Gafford.

“I think obviously there’s been a lot of growth, and that’s something I worked on a lot, just making reads,” Flagg said. “But I think it speaks to our group as well. Everybody just trusting each other. That play that you were talking about, I think I remember Kai got it out of the double team quick. I flashed, Caleb showed for Kai, … and then I had Gaff quick.”

“So I think it’s just our group coming together and everybody just sacrificing and making the right play, and it makes it easy for everybody,” Flagg continued.

Dallas finished with 31 assists on 48 field goals. All 3 of Flagg’s turnovers came in the first quarter, and the career night did not feel unusual to him.

“It’s pretty cool,” Flagg explained. “Like I said, it just speaks to our group. Everybody coming together. I didn’t even feel like anything crazy. Just playing through our system and making the right play. And guys are just making shots, so it helps.”

Gafford finished with 18 points, 11 of them in the third quarter. The rest of the roster takes pressure off Flagg and Irving by paying attention to the details of the game plan, Gafford said.

“I mean, offensively, they’re just making my job easier,” Gafford said. “At the end of the day, they got a lot of gravity out there on the floor. And when it comes to the game plan, guys are paying attention to details, and they’re just making, taking some of the pressure off the two main guys that we have on the floor. Honestly, so just prepared to catch anything around the rim.”

The Mavericks (6-4) close a home back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers on Monday at 7 p.m. CT.