‘In The Trenches’: Dallas Mavericks Hand Houston Rockets First Loss 116-111 Behind Kyrie Irving’s 35, Cooper Flagg’s 33
DALLAS — Kyrie Irving scored 26 of his 35 points after halftime on Friday night, and the Dallas Mavericks outscored the Houston Rockets 40-27 in the fourth quarter to beat them 116-111 at American Airlines Center. The loss was Houston’s first of the season and came in the opening game of Emirates NBA Cup group play for both teams.
Cooper Flagg added 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, and Dallas won its third straight game to improve to 4-2. Those two games above .500 are the first for the Mavericks since March 3, 2025, the night Irving tore the ACL in his left knee. The Rockets dropped to 5-1 in front of a crowd of 18,832.
Nine days earlier, Houston beat Dallas 128-110 at Toyota Center in the season opener for both teams. Irving played 24 minutes that night in his first regular-season game since the knee injury, and on Friday he logged 34 minutes, 53 seconds.
Irving shot 12-of-19 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range, and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, finishing with 35 points, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists. Flagg went 13-of-19 from the floor and 7-of-10 at the line, adding 2 steals and a block in 38 minutes, 53 seconds. Daniel Gafford scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks, and Zaccharie Risacher had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block off the bench.
Kevin Durant led Houston with 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting, made 9 of his 13 free throws, and grabbed 5 rebounds. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22, Fred VanVleet had 16 points and 6 assists, and Amen Thompson finished with 15 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Tari Eason scored 11 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, 8 of them offensive, while Clint Capela added 5 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The Rockets played without Alperen Şengün and Reed Sheppard, who both sat with low back soreness, and Steven Adams, who is out with a right soleus strain. Şengün entered the night averaging 24.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists through four games.
Dallas held out Naji Marshall, who has been sick and has not practiced, and listed Santi Aldama (right knee surgery), Tarik Biberović (right heel bursitis), Sergio De Larrea (right knee sprain), and Dereck Lively II (right foot surgery) as inactive.
Houston finished with 20 offensive rebounds and turned them into a 20-6 advantage in second-chance points. Dallas answered with a 28-10 edge in fast-break points, and the two teams each scored 46 in the paint.
“Well, we’re extremely excited to win a game that was in the trenches,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said. “… I can’t imagine that there’s too many teams tougher than the Rockets. And I thought especially in the second half, when the shots are going in and you’re in a rhythm and things are going well, you can match the other team’s physicality and intensity, and when they aren’t going in, some teams just can’t do it.”
“I thought late, some guys that weren’t having their best game stepped up and grabbed big rebounds,” May continued. “Obviously, our two guys, man, they just made play after play. But so many other possessions jump out. Gafford’s blocks at the rim were huge. P.J.’s rebounds in traffic late. I think he had three in the last three minutes, and we needed all of them. Obviously, Zacch in the second half. Caleb Martin, back the last couple games from injury, has been showing what he is, a winning player, and so on to the next.”
Kyrie Irving Rallies Dallas Mavericks Out Of A Halftime Hole
Flagg scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first quarter, and Dallas made 13 of its first 21 shots to lead 27-20 after 12 minutes. Risacher closed the period with a fast-break dunk off an Irving pass, 2.4 seconds after Flagg stripped Marcus Smart.
Houston outscored Dallas 31-17 in the second quarter. The Mavericks shot 5-of-20 in the period and committed 8 turnovers, which the Rockets turned into 11 points, and Houston carried a 51-44 lead into halftime.
Şengün and Sheppard were both ruled out before tip-off. Dallas trailed by as many as 8 points in the first half.
“Just psychologically, when [we’re] hearing Şengün’s out and Reed’s out, we have a whole game plan for them, and then we kind of take our foot off the gas pedal a little bit,” Irving said. “So we just had to readjust. [It’s] a human element of it, but when you’re in competition, you can’t do that.”
“And I feel like we picked it up after halftime and just had a few conversations with some guys, and we all agreed we weren’t playing our best basketball,” Irving continued. “And in order to be considered the best in this league, you’ve got to bring the energy every single night. You’ve got to bring the physicality.”
Irving scored Dallas’ first 8 points of the third quarter, starting with a pull-up in transition and following with two 25-foot threes, and he finished the period with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting. Houston still pushed its lead to 84-73 when Thompson finished an alley-oop from Smart with 33.7 seconds left in the quarter. Risacher’s three 12 seconds later sent Dallas into the fourth down 84-76.
After halftime, Irving shot 8-of-13 from the field, 4-of-6 from three-point range, and 6-of-6 at the line. He scored 16 of those 26 points in the fourth quarter.
“I think my communication and also my aggression and just starting the third quarter off at a very high level, especially pushing the transition and getting the ball over half-court [at] 21 seconds or 20 seconds, whether it was a miss or make,” Irving explained. “Just paying attention to the details on the defensive end. They’re always looking to catch you sleeping. Amen’s always looking to catch you sleeping on the offensive glass while he’s crashing. KD’s always looking to be around the basketball when they’re kind of going through their possessions where they haven’t scored in a minute.”
“And Ime does a great job of letting Fred just free flow into the offense, as well as Marcus Smart,” Irving added. “And just learning throughout the minutes and possessions through the games, just some of their cues that they’re mentioning to each other, some of their nonverbal communication, their eyes, their eye fakes. They continue to press you and press you and press you and wear you down. I felt like we had to kind of take that energy and reverse it on them and just make sure they played on their heels.”
Irving entered Friday averaging 18.0 points in 27.0 minutes across his first four games. The 35 points were his most in a game since Feb. 25, 2025, when he scored 35 against the Los Angeles Lakers on the road.
“If you just saw how much he puts into this game, and that factored in to being on a young team and bringing it every day and helping the group find solutions to problems, and do it in the manner in which he does it is, I mean, it’s incredible,” May said. “That’s why his stat line, 35, 9, and 4, that looks great and it’s obviously impressive, but his leadership and his grace with his teammates [is] even more impressive to me.”
All 6 of his free throws extended Irving’s career-best streak to 55 straight makes, the longest active run in the NBA. His previous best was 49 in a row, from March 15 to April 20, 2021. Friday also gave him the 89th 35-point game of his career, which tied Charles Barkley for 41st on the all-time list and moved Irving past DeMar DeRozan, who has 88.
Shooting at least 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% at the line in a 30-point game is something Irving has now done 81 times. Larry Bird also did it 81 times, and the two share the eighth-most such games in NBA history.
Irving’s 34 minutes, 53 seconds were nearly 11 more than he played in the opener. He sat for only 2 minutes, 12 seconds of the fourth quarter.
“It’s just a great feeling when you know the work translates into games. It was the first four games, five games, I really felt like my body has been in a good place,” Irving said. “But there’s more that I can get out of my instincts. There’s more that I can unlock in my game. There’s more of an attack mindset I can keep going to. There’ll be times I’m out on the perimeter, I’m not really cutting or I’m not really active, and I just don’t wanna be stagnant on those possessions.”
“And even when the possessions change from offense to defense, I really wanna be able to push myself. And that just comes with reps and comes with rhythm and also making the choice to get out and run despite just maybe some of the mental fatigue or physical fatigue,” Irving continued. “And just not thinking about, like, hey, how do I feel right now? It’s just should be about playing tonight and just playing the possessions out, and that’s probably the first game of the last four where I felt like I was just playing out the basketball game to my possessions IQ without thinking about, all right, how does my leg feel or how do I feel physically.”
Through his first four games, Irving averaged 27.0 minutes. His total Friday was nearly 8 minutes above that average.
“I feel great, I feel great. It’s great to build up to this moment. I think thinking about how we were talking about the minutes restriction, the first game versus Houston, and how it’s kind of controlling my internal frustration,” Irving said. “But I trust our coaching staff, I trust our medical staff in being able to develop a great dialogue and getting to this point, and just take patience, and I’m gonna enjoy it, but also give myself a lot of grace as I’m continuing to get better throughout the season.”
Cooper Flagg, Daniel Gafford Help Close Out Houston
Dallas shot 14-of-22 in the fourth quarter, while Houston went 7-of-23. Caleb Martin tied the game at 88 on a three from P.J. Washington with 7:43 left, and Irving’s 28-foot pull-up 42 seconds later gave the Mavericks a 91-88 lead, their first since 38-36 with 4:06 left in the second quarter.
Irving scored 10 of Dallas’ first 17 points of the quarter. He went 5-of-9 from the field in the period, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, and made all 4 of his free throws.
“That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate it,” May said. “Just get the right matchup on him and let him go to work. And like I said, when he’s playing that efficiently, shooting the ball and he’s finding his teammates and those are leading to hockey assists or regular assists, it’s just … don’t overcomplicate it.”
Houston tied it twice more, at 96 on a VanVleet three with 4:21 left and at 100 on a VanVleet floater with 2:26 to go. Flagg scored the Mavericks’ next 4 points after the first tie, on a 10-foot floater and a driving layup that Capela goaltended, and Irving answered the second tie with a 17-foot pull-up off a Flagg pass.
Flagg’s 13-foot floater with 1:40 left drew a foul from Smith, and his free throw made it 105-100. Durant’s 17-footer cut the margin to three before Gafford put back an Irving miss, with Capela called for goaltending, for a 107-102 lead with 1:18 remaining.
Durant made a free throw on an away-from-the-play foul and hit a 16-footer to pull Houston within 107-105 with 59.9 seconds left. After a Washington turnover, Thompson went to the line with 42 seconds remaining and missed both free throws.
Flagg’s 13-foot turnaround with 24.3 seconds left made it 109-105. Smith answered with a three at 15.8 seconds, and Dallas closed it at the line, where Gafford, Irving, and Flagg went 7-of-7 over the final 11.3 seconds.
The shot came in the 75th game of Flagg’s NBA career. He was named the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists.
“Just being confident, get to my spots and living with the result,” Flagg said. “[That’s] something [I] talked about last year, and it’s gonna continue to be a thing. All the great players are able to just get to their spots and raise up and knock them down. So that’s what I’m trying to do. Just get to my spots and we’ll live with [the] outcome.”
The lead changed hands nine times, and the teams were tied on 10 occasions. Dallas went 26-56 during Flagg’s rookie season.
“Just being comfortable. You need those game-like experiences. There’s nothing like it,” Flagg explained. “The crowd loud, everybody excited, coming down. There’s a lot of mental things that you can do to affect a game like that down the stretch. So just learn from that last year and try to put it to use.”
Flagg, Irving Give Dallas Two 30-Point Scorers
Flagg has 1,607 points through 75 games, second in franchise history over that span to Luka Dončić, who had 1,614. Friday was his third consecutive game with at least 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dončić is the only other teenager in NBA history with a three-game run like that.
Flagg’s 13th career 30-point game is the second-most by a teenager, behind the 20 recorded by LeBron James. Irving and Flagg gave Dallas two 30-point scorers in the same game for the first time since Feb. 5, 2026, when Marshall and Flagg did it against the San Antonio Spurs. The last pair of Mavericks to each score at least 33 in one game was Dončić and Irving in 2023-24.
Flagg finished with 11 points in the fourth quarter, and Irving had 16. Flagg set up Irving’s go-ahead pull-up with 2:08 left, and Irving set up Flagg’s and-one floater 28 seconds later.
“When you go back and look at it, one of them would screen the other one. One of them would cut to get some attention on the other one,” May said. “And also too, it’s just tough to go, when you’re in a tight game, probably six minutes left, it’s a one-possession game, for one guy to do it over and over and over and over and over. It’s taxing.”
“And then the defense that they have to play and exert the energy they have to exert on the other end,” May continued. “For those guys to be able to share that load and have two guys who just are closers like they are, there’s several layers to it that makes you feel good, very confident going into close games.”
Irving is 34, and Flagg turns 20 on Dec. 21. Irving assisted on 4 of Dallas’ baskets in the fourth quarter, and Flagg assisted on 2.
“It’s beautiful to watch, whether the ball’s in my hands or the ball’s in his hands,” Irving said. “He’s gonna get into the paint. I’m gonna be an outside perimeter threat. He can be an outside perimeter threat, I can get in the paint. But I think overall our teammates trust in us to be able to make the right plays.”
“And then, honestly, just in reality, just having a teenager out there, making these tough shots and getting and-ones and being as clutch as anyone I’ve seen, it’s just amazing to be a part of. It does take some pressure off of me to be able to make plays down the stretch,” Irving continued. “And I think that’s what makes it beautiful to watch and experience. And we’re still growing. I think he said it best. We still have a level that we wanna get to, a higher level, and we’re gonna continue to push each other to do so.”
“We obviously know the external chatter as well about the 15-year age gap and what we can accomplish and how we’re gonna mesh. And I think we kind of throw that out the window and just really focused on what we can control, which is our effort and how we treat each other, and then bigging up each other’s skill sets,” Irving added. “He’s a very diverse threat. I’m a very diverse threat. We just play off each other well.”
Flagg scored 15 of his points before halftime, and Irving scored 26 of his after it. Each finished with at least 6 assists.
“I thought, like I said, just playing off each other really well. He was able to go on runs and be a very vocal leader with the ball in his hands,” Flagg said. “I was able to come in, contribute in a very similar way, and kind of just made the game easier for each other. And I thought that was really, really good.”
Dallas assisted on 24 of its 42 field goals. Irving accounted for 9 of those assists, Flagg for 6.
“What a problem, where you’re in a pickle where two guys like that just have it going and you just gotta kinda rotate between putting the ball in each other’s hands and knowing that they’re gonna make the plays,” May said. “So obviously, what a luxury for us. And once again, they both trust their teammates. When [they] used to put two on the ball and they were determined to take it out of their hands, they continue to trust and trust and trust, and then those reps and that experience, those guys handled it better.”
Flagg blocked a Capela dunk attempt in the first quarter and had steals in the first and third quarters. The second one led to a fast-break dunk by Max Christie.
“I always speak on his competitive nature. It’s very rare. You obviously have guys that are very talented, do a lot of great things athletically, but that competitive nature and that drive to wanna be the best, to wanna win ballgames, to wanna do little things, that has to come from [within], and I think he exudes it,” Irving said. “Sometimes you look at him, he looks tired, and he makes an outstanding play, a block, or he hits a tough layup, or he throws a lob. It just helps settle us in, and whenever we’re out there on the offensive perimeter, we’re able to identify what our matchups are and be smart about it.”
“So I think his IQ and his competitive nature has put him in this spot today. … He has a great supporting cast around, including myself, a veteran where he could look to me, and there hasn’t been too many concepts or too many things in games I haven’t seen,” Irving continued. “So I know he’s relatively new to this. He’s no longer a rookie, so we don’t have to treat him like that. But we give him his respect as he continues to earn it, and that’s what the NBA is about.”
Irving spent all of Flagg’s rookie season rehabbing the torn ACL. Flagg won the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award without him on the floor.
“I talked to him a lot about it last year. Try to learn from him from the mental side,” Flagg said of Irving. “But I think more and more as we’ve gone into this year, being able to see it in person and on the court from him and be able to learn from the experience has been really cool too. It’s felt great. Obviously, he’s just so fun to play off of. I’ve talked about his gravity a lot, so it makes the game easy.”
Gafford, Washington, and Risacher combined for 33 points and 23 rebounds. Washington and Risacher also hit a three apiece in the first half.
“That’s great. We have a lot of stars. Guys are being stars in their roles,” Flagg said. “And I think that’s what we’re seeing as we’ve started to get a couple wins here early, is just guys really just sacrificing and being a star in the role. And guys like Zacch, P.J., Gaff, those guys are all stars in their roles, and they’re vital to our success.”
“But it’s felt great to have Kai out there, someone that just, I mean, puts the ball in the basket better than the best of them,” Flagg continued. “So it’s been a pleasure to have somebody else out there just relieving the pressure as well.”
Gafford, P.J. Washington Hold Up On The Fourth-Quarter Glass
Gafford played 11 minutes, 50 seconds in the fourth quarter and made all 3 of his shots and both of his free throws. He blocked a cutting dunk attempt by Thompson with 10:41 left, his second block of the night, and he has recorded at least 2 blocks in all six Dallas games this season. Shawn Bradley is the only other player in franchise history to open a season with six straight multi-block games, doing it as part of a 16-game run in 1999-2000.
Gafford came out of the game with 1:01 remaining and re-entered at the same stoppage. He made both of his free throws with 11.3 seconds left to put Dallas ahead 111-108.
“I thought Gaff early on, in the first quarter, I thought he was probably having his worst game of the year. He’s been really good for us, and the second half was just another level,” May said. “You’re able to block those attempts at the rim. Usually it starts a break going the other way. Those are energizing, momentum-changing plays, and off the top of my head, I can remember several, and then to step up and knock down the free throws at the biggest moment. Just big winning play after winning play.”
Washington shot 1-of-8 and scored 3 points, but he grabbed 10 rebounds, 7 of them in the fourth quarter. Dallas outrebounded Houston 13-11 in the final period.
“Gaff obviously holding down the paint. He never got, never backed down from the challenge. He’s always there protecting the paint, getting the rebounds,” Flagg said. “That’s a big team, rebounding and pushing out the way, really physical. So I think just down the stretch, him blocking out and helping us grab some rebounds was huge.”
“P.J., same thing, just physical defender. He’ll knock down his open shots, but I think just the work he did rebounding the ball down the stretch for us was huge,” Flagg continued. “… Zacch has been really good all year of just getting in the lanes, getting deflections, steals, blocks, being all over the place. So those guys, they’re vital to our success for sure.”
Risacher’s 3 steals and block pushed his season total of steals plus blocks to 22, second in the league to the 26 by Victor Wembanyama. He has come off the bench five times in six games after starting during the preseason.
“I think the practices that we’ve had, preseason that we had, I can’t necessarily use the word surprised like everyone else. In terms of his effort and what he’s been able to do, he’s right on track in terms of being a young player in this league and establishing himself and really proving himself,” Irving said. “It’s tough being a number one pick and having the franchise pressure on you and then now being in a new environment and having to develop or accept a new role. And I think he’s done it fabulously.”
“And when you’re around other talented players and high-level players, you’re gonna have to adjust and you’re gonna have to adapt. He started in the starting lineup in preseason, and he’s adjusted to coming off the bench, first guy off the bench at times, which helps us,” Irving continued. “So I think the selfless approach that he’s taken has been very mature of him. But we’re gonna need him to do other things continuously down the stretch, and depending on health, God willing we all stay healthy, but if we don’t, then there’s gonna be times where he’s gonna be in the starting lineup and he’s gonna be asked to do more. I think he’ll be able to step up to the plate.”
“But right now in his role, he’s superstar in it, just being able to get the stocks, be able to push in transition. He’s the fastest player on the court in every single game,” Irving added. “It’s beautiful to watch somebody like that, just going up and down the court and beating bigs, beating wings. And it helps us a lot when we’re trying to make a push, and those little plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet is a way he’s become great at.”
How Each Team Generated Its Offense
By play-type tracking, Dallas scored its 116 points on 111 possessions, or 1.045 points per possession, while Houston needed 126 possessions for its 111 points, or 0.881. In the half court, the Mavericks scored 82 points on 81 possessions, and the Rockets scored 94 on 109.
Dallas ran 30 transition possessions and scored 34 points on them. Houston had 17 transition possessions and scored 17, and it did not have one in the first quarter.
The Rockets scored 8 points on 17 isolation possessions, counting passes out of isolation, and 7 of those trips came in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks went to isolation 8 times and scored 12. Houston scored 40 points on 38 possessions ending with its pick-and-roll ball handler, and Dallas scored 30 on 33.
Twenty-two Houston possessions reached the final four seconds of the shot clock, and the Rockets scored 12 points on them. Dallas had five such possessions. On catch-and-shoot jumpers, the Mavericks scored 18 points on 13 unguarded attempts and went 0-for-8 when guarded.
Houston turned 18 Dallas turnovers into 17 points, and the Mavericks scored 20 points off 13 Houston turnovers. In the opener, Durant and Smith each scored 30 points for the Rockets.
“A number of things. One area that jumps out is, and they did in the first half, they had 20 offensive rebounds, but they’re on the glass,” May said. “And tonight, the ones they got, I don’t think was a lack of effort on our part. Maybe it was poor judgment where maybe we got too far in help and couldn’t block out, but I thought our effort was good. There didn’t seem to be any leak-outs, guys that weren’t in the fight. I thought we were in the fight.”
“And then we took care of the ball better. We had 17, and that’s still better than game one,” May continued. “But it seemed like most of our turnovers, other than a couple, we had numbers and we just kind of threw it to the wrong guy. A lot of them seem to be dead-ball turnovers, which is an improvement. But this is Houston. They’re tough to play against.”
The Rockets made 7 of 29 threes, their fewest makes of the season. Two nights earlier, Dallas held Oklahoma City to 5.
“Big time. We’re showing really good signs that we’re able to stay in front of the ball, that we have each other’s back, that we’re there for the help, that we’re communicating better,” Martin said. “And there’s still so many jumps and leaps that we can take and so much more room to grow for us, which is the exciting part.”
Mavericks Build On A Third Straight Win
Martin missed the first four games of the season with a right thumb sprain and made his season debut Wednesday against Oklahoma City. He scored 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting Friday and played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter.
“It’s big. Those are learning experiences. And a lot of times, not everybody’s fortunate enough to learn and still win,” Martin explained. “We’re learning, and to pull out a win like that, it’s just like icing on the cake. So we were in so many clutch games last year that we fell a little short. And so it’s good that the habits that we’re instilling here and the stuff that we’re trying to build is carrying over so quickly.”
Dallas was down 84-73 with 33.7 seconds left in the third quarter, its largest deficit of the night. Dallas did not lead again until Irving’s three with 7:01 left.
“Just resilient. I love that, like, how new we are, but like how fast we’re [jelling] together, and that we’re trusting the habits that are being instilled by coach from the top down, and just trusting the process and trusting the blueprint and what we’re trying to build here,” Martin said. “So I love the fact that guys, the buy-in is there.”
Friday was Irving’s fifth game since his return. Martin played alongside him for all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter except a 2:12 stretch.
“Like he never left. Like, it is crazy, like, it’s so early. That, like, again, even with him is that he, you can tell he’s still, like, easing into it, which is crazy to say, all performances like that,” Martin said of Irving. “With him, you just never know. There’s always, like, it seems like there’s another level. It’s like you’re never surprised when you do something amazing, but every time you’re like, ‘S—, that was dope.’ That’s crazy.”
“Same thing with Cooper. Same thing with our own eyes with him, too. It’s like the team just has another level that they just keep showing us,” Martin continued. “S—, I’m just happy they’re on our side.”
Friday was both teams’ first NBA Cup game of the season. Irving tore his ACL about 20 months earlier.
“It was incredibly special. Obviously, it’s the in-season tournament. Depending on which team you play against, some teams are taking it serious, some teams aren’t,” Irving said. “But I think it was a good kind of pressure environment to have early in the season, where it wasn’t just about me playing well or Cooper playing well. We really needed to have possessions where they mattered and guys were making the right plays or weren’t making the right plays, and we just had to learn from it.”
“So we’re gonna be in a lot of games like this down the stretch throughout the year. I don’t know when, but hopefully we can get some 20-point wins where we don’t have to go into it,” Irving continued. “But when we’re going into some end-of-the-game things, we gotta be able to be sharp, be focused, and I felt like we were able to do that. And the guys were really leaning on me for some emotional support, some verbal communication, and I feel like I offered that.”
“And also just was confident within the game, like we just had to break over that hump. We were within seven points, and it was five points, and it was 10, it was nine,” Irving added. “It’s just we had to break that seal off, and I felt like we did it with our defense and also just having smart possessions on the offensive end.”
Group play runs through Nov. 27. The winner of each of the six groups advances to the knockout rounds, along with one wild card from each conference.
“But I think when I first answered this question a few years ago about the [in-season] tournament, I wasn’t that excited about it, like other veterans or other guys in the league, but I think I understand the concept now in terms of what it means for fandom of basketball and also for the franchise and just getting your legs up underneath you,” Irving said. “I think we saw the Knicks last year going against the San Antonio Spurs, and we saw that in the final. So there is some correlation to playing well early in the season and picking it up and then being able to have some early success, and that leads on to later down the line.”
May is in his first season as Dallas’ head coach. Team president Masai Ujiri met him in the tunnel after the final buzzer.
“Obviously, I have a ton of respect for Masai, and he’s been a great sounding board, and I probably asked him too many questions just as I learned, as myself and staff were trying to learn this organization and whatnot,” May said. “And so it was just a little joke that I made, but I’m just very, very appreciative of the team that the front office has put together. We’re deep. We’re young. We have great character more than anything else.”
Lively has not played this season after right foot surgery in December 2025. He sits with the team on the bench during games.
“We look like a team that, obviously, when things aren’t going well, when I watch these games, just to see how our bench is about each other. And I want to shout out Dereck Lively. He’s a big part of that,” May said. “His energy is contagious, and he’s got such a positive spirit to him. But yeah, just the fact that we look like a group trying to find a way to win together, no matter what it looks like. They’re playing the game in front of them, and they’re doing it as a unit.”
Lively played seven games in 2025-26 before the surgery. He is in his fourth NBA season.
“It’s been great. Live has been one of the loudest people on the bench every single night, and you can tell he’s really just itching to get back out there,” Flagg said. “But just what he’s done from the sidelines and the energy and the positivity that he’s brought to our team has been incredible. And he’s definitely been a big part.”
Marshall was available Friday but sat as a coach’s decision. He has played in three of Dallas’ six games.
“He hasn’t practiced, and we were worried, illness. I think he probably looks like he’s dropped weight. He hasn’t practiced yet,” May said. “And just we thought if we could get through this one without [Naji], and he’s got two days to get his body back right, get his conditioning, and then be ready to play well Monday. We needed him tonight. It was a tough decision not to throw him out there, but we just thought for our team and for him, just give it until Monday.”
Dallas hosts the Sacramento Kings at American Airlines Center on Monday, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. CT. The Mavericks’ next NBA Cup game is Nov. 6 at home against the Utah Jazz.
