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DALLAS — Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg combined for 78 points Monday night in the Dallas Mavericks’ 125-122 win over the Indiana Pacers at American Airlines Center. Flagg scored a season-high 43 points with 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Irving made 7 of his 10 3-point attempts on his way to 35 points and was plus-29 in 38 minutes.
This is the first season the two have played together. Irving tore his left ACL on March 3, 2025, against the Sacramento Kings and did not play during Flagg’s rookie season. Entering Monday, Flagg was averaging 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 7.0 assists through nine games, and Irving was averaging 21.4 points in eight.
Both players are so unselfish, Mavericks coach Dusty May said, that winning is the priority over everything. Dallas has won three straight to move to 7-4.
“How well they complement each other, and how committed they are to simply trying to find a way to win, whatever this game needs,” May said. “It’s a unique deal where coming out of a timeout, we may draw up a play for one of them just because the other one might have an all-league defender, or whatever the case, and they never roll their eyes.”
“They know when we’re going to one of the two,” May continued. “The other one’s very supportive because they have that much respect for each other. And they’re both just such good guys and great teammates.”
In the fourth quarter, the two traded the scoring load. Irving had 10 points in the period, including a 23-foot 3-pointer that gave Dallas the lead for good at 98-97, and he assisted on Flagg’s 24-foot 3-pointer that made it 113-108. Flagg scored 16 in the fourth, closing with 18-foot pull-ups with 62 seconds and 26.3 seconds left.
Kyrie Irving Says It Starts With Him And Cooper Flagg
Irving, a nine-time All-Star, said his goal as a veteran is to take pressure off Flagg. The 34-year-old has watched other great players up close in workouts and high-level games, and he said learning on the fly is key.
“We keep calling him a teenager, but he plays way beyond his years, and gotta give him his flowers,” Irving said. “And just the way he’s always in attack mode, or the way he sees the game, and he’s always getting others involved, very selfless. And I think it helps out our team a lot, including myself, just seeing him be able to make plays for others, but also when he’s calling his own number, he’s getting to the paint, and he’s trying to get the most efficient shot possible.”
“Most young guys will probably move away from that contact, but it seems like this newer generation that’s coming into our league, they fear nothing, and I think he falls right in line with that,” Irving continued. “So, grateful to have him on the wing with me and just consistently telling each other that there’s another level we can get to, and we can keep pushing and keep getting better. So that’s a great thing that we have going right now.”
Flagg turns 20 on Dec. 21. He scored 51 points against the Orlando Magic last April, the first 50-point game by a teenager in NBA history. Irving watched from the sideline during that stretch of the season and said he saw then where he could fit in to help Flagg.
“I think it’s a multitude of things,” Irving explained. “I think last year we saw signs of it. He had a few high-scoring point games down the stretch. The ball was in his hands. We came up short a few times, but we did win a few games down the stretch. And I think me watching from the sideline, I saw where I can implement myself to help him out, and then also seeing the positions where he naturally puts himself in, where he can help me out, and he’s definitely a hard worker who puts in the time, and you deserve to be rewarded for that.”
“And just coming off Rookie of the Year, a lot of pressure on him, and my goal as a veteran is to alleviate a lot of that pressure that he feels and just be ready to give what the game needs,” Irving added. “So I think you heard Dusty say it, and as well as Coop say it over the last few weeks, I think the onus is on us and the eyes are on us all the time. The gravity’s always coming towards us, but for us, where we all understand that we’re not going to be as successful unless all of us are galvanizing each other, and it starts with me and Coop.”
“Obviously, it leads into other avenues that other guys can take advantage of,” Irving detailed. “So we’re just trying to put ourselves in the right positions out there and have fun playing basketball. And I think when you see us displaying that it’s us having fun and starts on the defensive end, and then when you see us getting out in transition, it’s just a beautiful game to watch because he makes the game easy. I make the game easy.”
Dallas lost 112-111 to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 4, its second loss to San Antonio this season. Irving said he took bad shots and settled down the stretch in that game, then went back to the film.
“Had a few turnovers where we definitely, our past few games where we can avoid, and even I think back to just the San Antonio game, these past few games, just the way that we’re finishing strong and we’re able to make a lot of nonverbal cues, get in the right position down the stretch,” Irving said. “I think we’ll be better prepared moving forward. So we need that San Antonio game to learn a lot of lessons.”
Flagg, P.J. Washington, And Santi Aldama On Playing Off The Gravity
Flagg said Irving’s gravity opens the floor for everybody else. In his own answer on the pairing, the 19-year-old pointed to teammates who had big nights earlier in the homestand.
“I think that’s something I’ve talked a lot about,” Flagg said. “But just having him out there, his gravity, opening the floor for everybody else, makes my life so much easier. So that’s that, but I think I speak to our team as well. And the other night, P.J. went 21 in the first half. He had it going. Gaff had it going the other night.”
“Like every night is going to be somebody else’s night, and we know that’s our identity, and we’re making the right plays, and no matter what, we’re trusting each other,” Flagg noted. “So tonight, me and Kai had it going, and there’s hopefully going to be a lot of nights like that.”
Walter Clayton Jr. had 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench, and Naji Marshall scored the floater that put Dallas up 118-113 with 1:24 left. Clayton’s ability to get downhill and help initiate offense is part of why the ball moves, Flagg said.
“I think just the unselfishness of everybody out there,” Flagg explained. “I think having someone like Walt out there too, the way he’s able to get downhill and help us initiate offense, Naji. We get lineups out there and we just get the ball moving at a fast level, and we have guys who know where they shoot their shots, where to get other people involved, and it clicks at a really high level. So, and I just thought it looked really good tonight. Moving around, swinging, finding the right shots.”
P.J. Washington finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds. His job, the forward said, is to do a better job of getting the two stars easy looks.
“They’re just being special,” Washington said. “They’re being themselves. When they play like that, it makes our job easier, and we just had to do a better job of getting them easy looks each and every night.”
Santi Aldama scored 10 points in his third game with Dallas. When he catches the ball next to Irving and Flagg, he said, he is going to be more open than not.
“When you have guys that can score every single time down the floor, it’s great for the team, but also great for everybody that plays with them, right?” Aldama said. “Because when you get the ball, you’re going to be more open than not, right? So it’s about making the right read, being aggressive, the right balance, and just finding them when they’re open. So, like I said, just when you have guys with that amount of gravity, everything’s way easier.”
Dallas opens a three-game road trip Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center, with tip-off at 7 p.m. CT.
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