‘Played Like We Wanted It’: Dallas Mavericks Beat Indiana Pacers 121-105 For Dusty May’s First NBA Win

INDIANAPOLIS — Mavericks coach Dusty May has his first NBA win, and it came in his home state. The Dallas Mavericks scored 44 points in the first quarter Friday night, led by as many as 37 points before halftime, and held off a second-half push from the Indiana Pacers for a 121-105 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Two nights earlier, Dallas opened the season with a 128-110 loss to the Houston Rockets in which it scored 38 points in the first half. The win evened the Mavericks at 1-1. Indiana also fell to 1-1 in its home opener, which was Tyrese Haliburton’s first home game since the 2025 NBA Finals, in front of a sellout crowd of 17,274.

Cooper Flagg had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals in 17 minutes before Aaron Nesmith fouled him from behind on a breakaway with 59.7 seconds left in the first half. Nesmith was assessed a flagrant 1, and Flagg did not return. After the game, May said Flagg, last season’s Rookie of the Year, has left shoulder soreness and will be evaluated over the next couple of days.

Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-10 from three-point range, to go with 1 rebound and 3 assists in 24:55 on a minutes restriction. With 4:23 left, he fouled out for the first time in his career. P.J. Washington finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks, and Max Christie added 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in a team-high 37:52.

Dallas finished with 28 assists and 15 turnovers after posting 20 assists and 21 turnovers in Houston. Washington said the Mavericks played with much better pace on Friday, got into the paint, and created for others.

“Huge night for us. Obviously, both [ends], I thought we played well, we fought, we were aggressive,” Washington said. “We just played like we wanted it tonight, and that’s how we gotta play the rest of the season.”

Irving played 23:45 in Houston and scored 15 points in his first regular-season game since tearing his left ACL in March 2025. The jitters in that game started with him, he said.

“I feel like we took a lot of things personal in terms of just our film session and being able to be honest with each other during shootaround and taking things a lot more serious in terms of our approach and our preparation. I think that helped out a lot, and I like the look when we come into games and we’re very serious,” Irving said. “And I’m not saying we weren’t serious the first game, but you can tell there’s a lot of pressure, jitters, including myself, starting with me. I’m at the head of the attack on the offensive end, also defensively, just getting to my guy and making things difficult.”

“So we had some great carryover moments and put a few possessions together, and you start losing yourself in the game,” Irving continued. “And I feel like that’s when we’re at our best. And just no excuses, complaining, whispering out there, just straight to the attack of the game plan.”

Dallas Mavericks Arrive In Indiana Focused On Transition Defense

Houston outscored Dallas 38-12 in the second quarter Wednesday. At Friday’s shootaround, Christie said the Pacers’ speed would show whether the Mavericks could apply what they saw on film.

“I think a lot of it was our transition defense for the most part. [They] got a lot of easy baskets. And then I think offensively got a little bit stagnant as well,” Christie said. “I think we only scored 12 or 14 points in the second quarter. So they [had] 36 or whatever it was. There’s kind of both ends for us. Kind of the wheels just kind of fell off.”

“And so the transition defense for us, we’ve got to fix,” Christie continued. “Just getting back, especially against this team, Indiana plays really fast. And so it’ll be a good challenge for us to see if we can apply the film to this game.”

Dallas got outrun a few times in Houston, May said before the game, and its turnovers fed the problem. Indiana won 123-120 at New Orleans in its own opener Wednesday, with Haliburton scoring 23 points and handing out 12 assists.

“It’s impressive how quickly they get it up the floor, the way they move the basketball, the way they play out of concepts. Coach Carlisle’s one of the best to ever walk the sidelines. And so they have a great plan,” May said. “They’re able to plug and play with different guys, and they have a real system, obviously.”

“They’re a razor-thin margin from winning a championship with basically this team,” May continued. “When you factor in Zubac and Myles Turner, but essentially the same roster was in Game 7 of the Finals before Tyrese got injured, so obviously a great basketball team.”

Zaccharie Risacher wanted Dallas to answer Indiana’s pace by playing with pace of its own and sharing the ball. Houston’s pressure on Irving in the opener was the other thing on his mind before tip-off.

“Just being aware that that might happen, that’s what they want. That’s what they did,” Risacher said. “And I feel like me and also like just us as a team got [to] do the job and make sure we can get Kyrie open, get him to the right position so he can do his thing. But overall, I think just if we’re playing fast, play our game, play with pace, sharing the ball, it’s gonna take care of itself.”

Mavericks Build A 37-Point Lead Before The Indiana Pacers Push Back

Dallas never trailed. The teams were tied three times early, the last at 11-11 on a Pascal Siakam three with 8:39 left in the first quarter, before Washington answered with a three of his own. Haliburton’s floater with 5:42 left cut it to 20-17, and the Mavericks scored 22 of the next 28 points.

Flagg made all four of his shots in the first quarter, two of them threes, and scored 12 points with 4 assists. Marcus Sasser hit two threes off the bench, and Irving’s three with 1:17 left made it 39-23. Dallas shot 16-of-23 (69.6%) and 8-of-13 from three in the period and led 44-27 after one.

Indiana missed all six of its three-point attempts in the second quarter and turned it over 9 times. Between the 9:54 and 5:16 marks, Dallas scored 15 straight points to go up 61-31. Risacher scored 8 points in the quarter, including a breakaway dunk after a Naji Marshall steal and the putback that capped the run. All 11 of his points came in the first half.

Daniel Gafford found Christie for a driving layup with 42.3 seconds left that made it 77-40, the largest lead of the night, and Dallas took a 77-43 lead into halftime. Indiana shot 2-of-15 from three in the first half and committed 13 turnovers that turned into 22 Dallas points. The Mavericks also won both of their coach’s challenges, one in each half.

Indiana won the third quarter 33-21 as Dallas shot 7-of-22. Haliburton scored 8 points in the period, and threes from Quenton Jackson and Kelly Oubre Jr. cut the deficit to 89-70 with 2:17 left. Irving answered with a three off a Sasser pass, Christie finished a fast-break dunk off an Irving assist, and Dallas carried a 98-76 lead into the fourth.

Siakam scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. An Andrew Nembhard three-point play cut it to 112-99 with 4:39 left, and Marshall scored 8 of his 15 points in the period. Washington’s driving dunk off a Risacher pass made it 118-103 with 2:05 left, and Indiana did not score again after Haliburton’s pull-up with 1:56 left made it 118-105. Moussa Cissé scored the final 3 points after both benches emptied.

Dusty May Points To The Hidden Plays Behind His First Win

Dallas finished with 46 rebounds to Indiana’s 42, along with 11 blocks and 10 steals. May opened his postgame news conference with the parts of the game that do not show up in a box score.

“I thought we had a great team effort. Everyone that played made major contributions as far as effort, intensity, the hidden plays that go into winning. Obviously, the guys with the stat line, those guys are obvious to see,” May said. “Just so many high-point rebounds, transition defense really improved. And then we took care of the ball, and then it always looks and feels better when some of the good shots that the guys are generating together drop.”

The 44 points in the first quarter were 6 more than Dallas scored in the entire first half in Houston. Several of Friday’s fixes, May said, came from problems that New Orleans exposed in the preseason and Houston exposed in the opener.

“It’s such an overused cliché with the process, but that’s the one thing about Houston I think we learned. It was almost as if we got down and the scoreboard was off and we just, we just let it go and went out and played,” May explained. “But I want to give our guys credit. A lot of the things that we did well tonight were things that they fixed that were exposed by some of the other teams, New Orleans and preseason, obviously Houston.”

“The ball was going in, I thought it was moving, I thought our poise and patience was better than it’s been,” May continued. “And guys are really starting to trust and play off of each other, and that’s the best part.”

Washington and Risacher had 3 blocks apiece, and Gafford added 2. May credited the medical staff for how quickly the Mavericks moved two days after the opener in Houston.

“I thought we were flying around making intelligent risk gambles, but also just covering for each other. There were several times whenever maybe someone went for, was defending in the post, and the ball got behind them, and you could see two or three guys, like, rotating,” May said. “We weren’t flat-footed at all. We were quick to the ball, and give our medical staff a lot of credit to play at Houston, travel, come up here for our guys to look as quick as they did. A lot of hours went into that, so let me give those guys a shout-out as well.”

Indiana turned the ball over 21 times, and Dallas scored 31 points off those giveaways. The Pacers challenge every pass, May said, and the Mavericks still found different creases.

“The turnovers, I thought, we handled great pressure by Indiana. They get after the ball. They challenge every pass. It’s a hard-playing team, well-coached team. And we managed it,” May said. “I thought, like I said, our poise once we were able to create an advantage was very, very sound. And I thought we relocated and found windows. And guys made big shots at the end of the day.”

“You look at some possessions and [they] jump out. Max made a couple huge shots and Morez got a couple of rebounds. I thought Gaff had the most modest stat line of someone who played incredibly well. His impact on this game was huge,” May continued. “I can go down the line. Obviously, Zach’s going to bang in some shots, but his chase-down blocks, those plays are huge on the road because they’re momentum changers, and also they’re plays that unify the group and they appreciate about each other.”

Gafford finished with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks in 14:36. Siakam had 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Haliburton had 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists on 8-of-17 shooting while missing all four of his three-point attempts. Nembhard scored 16, Obi Toppin added 13 off the bench, and Ivica Zubac had 9 points and 11 rebounds. Indiana shot 7-of-32 (21.9%) from three and won the paint 60-54.

May Keeps His Indiana Homecoming About The Group

May grew up in Indiana and was a student manager at Indiana University under Bob Knight. His family handled the arrangements for friends and family Friday, he said, and he had no idea how many came.

“This is a business trip, so it’s just, I know we had a lot, and I saw some familiar faces as I was walking out. But we try to get these guys to not think about themselves quite as much,” May said. “And so I just really, this isn’t about me, it was about our group coming in here and figuring out a way to be better, competing like crazy, because I thought that was the biggest difference.”

“Our competitive spirit was off the charts tonight against a team that is going to be in contention to win the Eastern Conference,” May added. “And so more than anything else, I didn’t put a lot of thought into it because I’d be thinking about myself.”

Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington Respond After Cooper Flagg Goes Down

Flagg had just picked off a Siakam pass when he broke away with about a minute left in the first half. Nesmith fouled him from behind, and players from both teams came together after Flagg hit the floor. Nesmith and Marshall were each assessed a technical foul on top of Nesmith’s flagrant 1, about a minute after Siakam had drawn a technical of his own. Flagg made both free throws before heading to the locker room, and Christie checked in for him.

Marshall started the second half in Flagg’s place. Irving said the Mavericks have to do a better job of keeping each other aware of what is going on around them on the floor.

“The NBA is just momentum-based in terms of when guys are going on a fast break like that, you gotta be careful. You foul somebody like that going up for a dunk and they’re not anticipating the foul or whatever’s going on and you fall recklessly,” Irving explained. “It’s just, that’s why I feel like it gets dangerous, and we wanna protect our teammates, and that’s why you saw [us] going to have Coop’s back.”

“It’s a hard foul in the NBA, and Coop got back up and knocked down his free throws. And that’s what we want in terms of [not] showing a weakness. But obviously he didn’t finish the game, and that’s not something we want at all,” Irving continued. “So we gotta do a better job of, as teammates, just making sure we keep each other aware of what’s going on out there.”

“We couldn’t anticipate it, it was a tough foul, but we had each other’s backs, and we just don’t wanna have to deal with those things moving forward,” Irving added. “But if we do, we gotta be able to galvanize the group and just be ready to pick each other up after that.”

Washington, on the floor for the play along with Marshall, Gafford, and Risacher, called it “a bad foul” and said plays like it are “a part of the game.” Flagg was a plus-34 in his 17 minutes.

“Cooper is a talented player. We knew what he could do on the floor, so for us, it was just a next-man-up mentality and just to have his back,” Washington explained. “Obviously, we hate that he went out tonight, but we’re glad we got a win for him, and hopefully he’s doing well.”

May Speaks On Aaron Nesmith And The Mavericks’ Response

Two Mavericks players also appeared to leave the bench during the altercation, The Associated Press reported. May said he did not see it because he was in the fray, but he was told the two went out of bounds to check on Flagg, who was down near the camera operators.

“Nesmith is a great guy, a heck of a player. I’ve known him since he was in high school. Obviously an unfortunate play,” May said. “Hopefully Cooper’s fine. But, yeah, obviously something we wish wouldn’t have happened.”

Marshall’s technical was the only one Dallas drew all night. This group was 0-1 coming into Friday, May said, no matter how many wins each player had been part of elsewhere.

“I thought, once again, these learning lessons that each group has to go through. This team was 0-1, this group. It doesn’t matter how many wins each guy’s been a part of. This team was 0-1,” May said. “And whenever Tari Eason, he gave us some physicality to the night and that started or ignited a run for them. We didn’t respond well to that level of physicality.”

“I thought tonight our guys not only matched it, but they channeled it in the right way, which isn’t getting technicals and fouling and sending him to [the] line,” May continued. “It was just more force and more aggression and more togetherness.”

Irving And Washington Answer Indiana’s Third-Quarter Run

Washington scored 9 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the third quarter, and Irving added 8 as Indiana cut a 34-point halftime deficit to 19. May’s message at halftime was to treat the second half like a 0-0 game, Washington said.

“We knew they were gonna come out [of] halftime swinging, so for us, we just had to take good shots, breathe, and just try to relieve the [pressure],” Washington said. “Try to get easy ones, swing the ball, just exhaust every option and just come out with a good shot each and every time. And then defensively, just keep doing what we were doing the whole game, and that’s being aggressive, rebounding, and just talking.”

Irving made 5 of 10 threes, three of them after Flagg left. He scored 11 of his 24 points in 9:38 of playing time after halftime.

“We’re asking him to do a lot. And there were a couple times whenever you could see that as someone that’s done what he’s done, he knew the team needed him to make a play. He made several of them,” May said. “And I thought the staff did a great job of managing the minutes with the flow of the game, his minutes with the flow of the game. And, man, he does things every single day that I tell the staff we need to put that in a teaching tape. And, man, that’s incredible. No detail is overlooked by Kyrie.”

Irving Fouls Out For The First Time In His Career

Irving picked up his fifth foul on a Nesmith three-point attempt with 9:33 left and checked out. He returned with 4:55 to go, lost the ball to Jalen Slawson on a steal 31 seconds later, and was whistled for his sixth foul on the same trip.

“I don’t know if you guys saw the play when they called foul on me … I had all ball. Won’t blame it on any one person, ’cause it’s on me,” Irving said. “I just gotta stay in front of the ball, but I just can’t get myself in that position. Anything can happen here in a building like this, or buildings like this where we’re going against a good team. So I gotta be better on my end.”

“The streak lasted as long as possible. I think it was like 781 games, something like that, consistently not fouling out,” Irving continued. “I know my value out there in terms of being able to settle the game down, but it was a great lesson for all of us tonight, including myself, to trust the guys.”

“Naji was at the point guard position, Sass was at the point guard position. I think they did a great job of just settling us in,” Irving added. “Great learning lesson for us down the stretch when we don’t have our pure creators out there, so they did a great job.”

Washington put the late fouls down to Irving’s excitement in his second game back. Irving had told the team about the streak afterward.

“He was telling us about it. I tell him, I’m like, bro, out of everybody on the team, you are the last person that needs to be foul[ing out],” Washington said. “Mental mistakes, obviously, it’s the second game back. So I think it’s just him being excited to be out there.”

May heard the same thing from Irving. It was the first time Irving had fouled out of an NBA game, May confirmed.

“Yeah, he told us that too. He’s been off a while, so maybe a little bit of rust for the year off,” May said. “But, yeah, he let the staff know he had never fouled out of a game. Proud to be a part of this first.”

Irving And Tyrese Haliburton Share A Moment In The First Quarter

Irving and Haliburton shared a moment in the first quarter. Irving tore his left ACL in March 2025, and Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

“I was just asking how many days has it been since he played his first game at home in front of the fans, and I think it’s like 400 something, and I was like, man, it’s been 590-some days for me,” Irving said. “So we’re just incredibly grateful, and I think you can get a pulse or get a sense of how much the game means to both of us.”

“Both play on the USA team, both are trying to strive to be the best point guards in the league, and you share that competitive fire. And for the past few years, Indiana has pretty much been kicking our butt in here in this building,” Irving continued. “So let’s not fall short of that. Had some different lineups coming here, but every time we’re in Indiana, it’s gonna be a dogfight, and you know that.”

“And it starts with Tyrese and his ability to get the ball out. Andrew Nembhard being able to play complementary point guard or shooting guard to him, they found success in the Finals not too long ago,” Irving added. “So they’re always knocking at the door and trying to be one of the top teams in the league. So when you come in here in this building, it’s a special moment. You could play well and also get a win.”

Naji Marshall And Morez Johnson Jr. Give Dallas A Lift Off The Bench

Marshall finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals off the bench, and Morez Johnson Jr. had 8 points and 6 rebounds with a plus-21 rating in 16:49. Marshall played 33:21, second on the team behind Christie.

“It’s great. He comes in and he does everything for us. He rebounds, he passes the ball, he creates offense, he gets in the lane. He’s a beast on both [ends],” Washington said. “So you need guys like that on your team that are just dogs and willing to fight each and every night.”

Injuries And What’s Next For The Mavericks

Dallas played without Santi Aldama (right knee surgery), Tarik Biberović (right heel bursitis), Jett Howard (right calf tightness), Dereck Lively II (right foot surgery), and Caleb Martin (right thumb sprain). Before the game, May said Aldama feels better every day as he works through his rehab and that the Mavericks are being very cautious with Martin, whom he expects back in the near future. Indiana was without T.J. McConnell (right hamstring strain), Ben Sheppard (left meniscus tear), and Johnny Furphy (right ACL surgery).

The Mavericks open their home schedule Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs on the second night of a back-to-back, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. CT at American Airlines Center. It is the third straight season San Antonio has been Dallas’ home-opening opponent.

“To compete like crazy and just make every possession tough on San Antonio. Continue to play our brand of basketball and just learn what we need to from this game and just go in there and compete at the highest level,” May said.

The Mavericks and Pacers meet again Nov. 9 at American Airlines Center.