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DALLAS — Some Dallas Mavericks fans have started calling Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg “peanut butter and jelly,” and P.J. Washington has seen it. Washington met with reporters after practice Wednesday, a day before Dallas opens a three-game road trip at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Flagg and Irving combined for 78 points in Monday’s 125-122 win over the Indiana Pacers. Dallas has won three straight to move to 7-4.
“I’ve been seeing that,” Washington said. “I don’t know. I don’t know where it came from. I’ve just been seeing Coop on the bench eating peanut butter and jelly, so it might have came from there, but I like it.”
“We eat the snacks a little bit,” Washington continued. In response to a follow-up about eating on the bench during games, he added, “I’m not really hungry during the game, but after the game, for sure.”
Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg Combine For 78 Against Indiana Pacers
Flagg finished Monday with a season-high 43 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists on 16-of-25 shooting. He went 3-of-6 from three and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, and 30 of his points came in the second half.
Irving matched his season high with 35 points. The two combined for 26 points in the fourth quarter, including Dallas’ first 13 of the period, as the Mavericks came back from 10 down at halftime.
Through 10 games, Flagg is averaging 25.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.9 assists after winning Rookie of the Year last season as the first overall pick in the 2025 draft. Irving is averaging 22.9 points and shooting 39.5% from three in nine games after missing all of last season recovering from left ACL surgery.
P.J. Washington On The Mavericks’ Playmakers
Washington is averaging 14.6 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds while making 35.6% of his 3-pointers on 6.6 attempts per game. He has started all 11 games.
“I feel like it’s developing each and every game,” Washington explained. “We’re just getting more comfortable playing with each other and playing against other teams. We’ve seen a lot of different differences. So for us, it’s just identifying what they’re trying to take away from us and just working it from there.”
“I feel like with Kai and Coop, we have two of the best playmakers in the league,” Washington continued.
Washington said the two are creating for others, which “just makes our drives a lot easier.” Flagg is averaging 6.9 assists per game, and Irving is averaging 4.3.
Dallas faces LaMelo Ball and Minnesota at 7 p.m. CT Thursday at Target Center. The Mavericks visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday and the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
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