DALLAS — Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg will play in the same game at American Airlines Center for the first time Friday night, when the Dallas Mavericks close the preseason against the Atlanta Hawks. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT.
Irving, Flagg, Daniel Gafford, and rookie Morez Johnson Jr. all sat out Wednesday’s 101-97 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in Dallas. Against Atlanta, Mavericks coach Dusty May wants the defense to use the natural instincts some of his players have without giving up easy baskets when it does not go well.
“This will be the closest to a regular season game that we’ll play just based on availability,” May said after Thursday’s practice. “We’re going to play more of a regular rotation, with the exception of a few guys who will probably still be out.”
“Just to look like we have a good rhythm and flow to the game offensively, and then defensively that we’re connected and we’ll cover for each other,” May continued. “We’ve got some guys with great natural instincts, so we want to make sure we utilize those, but also not give up easy baskets when it doesn’t go well.”
Irving tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on March 3, 2025, against the Sacramento Kings and missed all of last season. His first game back came Sunday, Oct. 11, at The Venetian Arena in Macao, China, in a 132-115 win over the Houston Rockets. May called the first play for Irving, who scored on a driving reverse layup 14 seconds into the game. He finished with 17 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in 22 minutes on 6-of-13 shooting and did not commit a turnover.
That game was also the first time Irving shared the floor with Flagg, the unanimous Rookie of the Year last season. Flagg went 3-of-10 from the field and finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists in 25 minutes, along with 2 steals. Two days earlier, in a 135-117 loss to Houston without Irving, Flagg had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in 19 minutes and scored 17 of those points in the second quarter. May said Irving and Flagg both defend with great natural instincts.
“It’s a small sample size, but any time those two guys are on the court we’re going to be a better basketball team just because they both have such high basketball IQs,” May explained. “They’re both great passers, they’re scorers, they both defend and have great natural instincts defensively as well.”
After the win in Macao, May said Dallas still was not getting into its actions quickly enough while Houston was collecting second shots. The Rockets finished that game with 21 offensive rebounds to Dallas’ 15.
“I think sometimes everyone kind of just stops and watches Kyrie instead of a little bit more cutting to open up bigger gaps for him, and a little bit of off-ball movement will make the game simpler for him,” May said.
With 8:34 left in the second quarter that night, Flagg found Irving for a layup in transition. Irving said afterward that Flagg has grown into using his voice in his second year.
“I’d rather be on a team that kind of overpasses at times and we’re figuring ourselves out rather than me having the ball in my hands all the time or Cooper having the ball in his hands every time,” Irving said.
Mavericks Lead Preseason In Three-Point Attempts Before Facing Dyson Daniels, Luguentz Dort
Dallas has attempted 51, 40, and 49 three-pointers in its three preseason games, an average of 46.7 per game. That leads the NBA this preseason, just ahead of the 46.3 Atlanta has averaged. Last season, the Golden State Warriors led the league at 44.1 attempts per game.
Dallas shot 34.4% from three last season, when it finished 26-56. So far this preseason, the Mavericks have made 43 of their 140 attempts, which is 30.7%. In the same three games, they have taken 3 shots from between 17 feet and the three-point line and made 1. Dallas does not have much offensive variety installed yet, May said after Wednesday’s loss.
“We want to try to hunt great shots, whether that’s a dunk, whether it’s a back-cut layup, or if they’re going to collapse and we can’t finish, then we need to pass it to the open guy,” May said after the opener in Macao.
Flagg went 1-of-5 from three in that opener and is 2-of-9 from deep this preseason. He expects some of Dallas’ threes this season to come easier.
“I think obviously we have a different identity, different culture, we’re trying to play faster, sharing the ball more, so I think naturally we’re going to fall into some more threes and some easier ones too,” Flagg said.
Atlanta’s backcourt includes two All-Defensive guards. Dyson Daniels is a two-time All-Defensive selection. Luguentz Dort made the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team in 2025 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Atlanta acquired him July 19 in the same three-team trade that sent Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas. The preseason has shown Dallas patterns in how it is being defended, May said, and the question is whether the Mavericks can find answers that fit their personnel.
“Those two guys could be as good as any point-of-attack defenders,” May said. “I think the speed of the game tomorrow will be the fastest we’ve played yet, so we’re seeing a good mix where Houston switches everything.”
“New Orleans, before our game [on Wednesday], really doesn’t switch much, and now Atlanta is kind of a combination of the two,” May continued. “You’ve got to face all these different scenarios and all these different types of systems. The league is very similar in a lot of ways, but also because of personnel it’s different as well.”
Rookie Sergio de Larrea, the No. 25 overall pick in June, played a team-high 30 minutes against New Orleans and finished with 6 assists and 5 turnovers. Dallas committed 27 turnovers that night, and the Pelicans scored 27 points off them. Releasing pressure and cutting down on turnovers is the key for de Larrea.
“We face a lot of pressure, a lot of hands, a lot of contacts,” de Larrea said. “I think we have to release that pressure, try to avoid some turnovers, and I think that’s the key of the game.”
De Larrea is averaging 3.7 turnovers per game this preseason. May said part of that falls on the coaching staff for “not giving him enough help or not having enough playmakers and ball handlers on the court with him at all times.”
Zaccharie Risacher Faces Atlanta Hawks As Marcus Sasser Nears Mavericks Debut
Atlanta drafted Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in 2024. He made the All-Rookie First Team after averaging 12.6 points per game and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. In his second season, he averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 67 games before falling out of the Hawks’ rotation after the team added veteran wings at the February trade deadline. Oklahoma City received three second-round picks in the July trade, and Friday is Risacher’s first game against the franchise that drafted him.
“That’s one thing about teams that care about each other,” May said. “Typically, when there’s a personal battle like that, everyone else picks up the slack and it becomes more of our team versus their team versus Zac versus the Hawks.”
Against New Orleans, Risacher scored 6 points on 3-of-11 shooting and missed all 7 of his three-point attempts. He is 3-of-16 from three this preseason. May said after that game that the defense had a lot to do with Risacher’s off night and that it was probably part of the respect he is garnering now.
“Last night was the best he’s been as far as activity, blocking some shots,” May said. “He’s still a young player, so he’s learning a lot. We challenged him to be more impactful with his speed, athleticism, and length, and I thought he did that.”
“He blocked a couple of shots from behind, much like Coop does a lot,” May added. “So, I challenged him to fly around more and use his athleticism, and then on the offensive end he got to the rim one time. But we’ve got to continue to find ways to generate a connection with those lineups that haven’t really played much together, and Zac will be a big part of that going forward.”
In the win over Houston, Dallas started Irving, Flagg, Risacher, P.J. Washington, and Gafford. Marcus Sasser has missed all three preseason games with left adductor tightness, and May said Thursday he expects him to play against Atlanta. Dallas acquired Sasser in July in a six-team trade that also brought Santi Aldama and Tarik Biberović to the Mavericks.
Johnson, the No. 9 overall pick in June who played for May at Michigan, has right shin splints. He started at center in the opener in Macao and had 4 points and 2 rebounds in 12 minutes before missing the next two games. May said Thursday that Johnson is very close to playing again. Whether center Moussa Cisse will be available against Atlanta has not been announced.
The Mavericks did not land back in Dallas until 2:30 a.m. Monday after a week in China. They went 1-1 against Houston on the trip and lost to New Orleans two days after getting home.
“I didn’t think that they were flat as much as just a little bit short on the shots and just didn’t have, not as much flat mentally, but just a little bit fatigue or jet lag,” May said.
Thursday’s practice went toward repairing things from the Pelicans game, even for players who did not play in it, May said. The group has shown a real willingness to plug holes and find solutions, he said.
“There’s been a few themes of areas on both sides of the ball that we haven’t done well and I think our guys were very, very conscious of that today and we took a step forward in fixing a few of those,” May said.
Friday’s game is the second of Dallas’ two preseason home games at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks open the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Houston, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CT.
