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DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks beat the Indiana Pacers 125-122 on Monday at American Airlines Center after trailing by 13 points in the first half. The win was Dallas’ third straight and moved the Mavericks to 7-4. Indiana fell to 3-8 without Tyrese Haliburton, who was inactive with a left hamstring strain.
Cooper Flagg scored a season-high 43 points, topping his previous best of 33. Kyrie Irving added 35 on the second night of a back-to-back.
Four things stood out. Flagg and Irving shared the closing work, a halftime change on Pascal Siakam held up, and Dallas controlled the glass with a short frontcourt. The minutes without Irving went the other way, as Indiana won the first-half minutes he sat 21-2. All four come from one home game against a Pacers team missing Haliburton.
Cooper Flagg And Kyrie Irving Closed It Together
Dallas scored 35 points in the fourth quarter, and Flagg and Irving had 26 of them. The pair went 11-of-11 at the line in the period and made 6 of the Mavericks’ 8 field goals.
Flagg scored 16 in the quarter on 4-of-8 shooting, 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and 6-of-6 at the line. Irving had 10 on 2-of-4 shooting, 1-of-2 from deep, and 5-of-5 free throws.
Irving’s 23-foot 3-pointer with 9:36 left put Dallas ahead 98-97. Later in the quarter, the Mavericks went 3 minutes, 59 seconds without a field goal. Naji Marshall ended the drought with a floater from Irving with 1:24 remaining. Flagg hit 18-foot pull-up jumpers with 1:02 and 26.3 seconds left, and Irving made 2 free throws with 18 seconds left for a 125-122 lead. Mavericks coach Dusty May, in his first season with Dallas, met with reporters after the win.
“We probably, at that point, we were thinking about spreading the floor again and just trying to open up the driving lanes,” May said. “But we ran some very simple actions just to get Coop on the left side of the floor, and obviously he just did his thing.”
Flagg finished with 43 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists on 16-of-25 shooting, 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and 8-of-8 at the line. Irving shot 11-of-18, including 7-of-10 from deep, and went 6-of-7 at the line.
“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 explained. “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.”
Dallas has not lost since a 112-111 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 4, which dropped the Mavericks to 4-4.
“So we need that San Antonio game to learn a lot of lessons,” Irving said. “I took a lot of bad shots in that game as well down the stretch where I felt like I settled in. Rewatched a lot of the film, see where I can get better, and try to vocalize that to my teammates as well.”
Irving hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and the final 2 free throws. Flagg hit the last 2 field goals. The closing work was split between them, which fits how May described choosing between his stars out of timeouts.
The Halftime Change On Pascal Siakam Held
Siakam had 26 points at halftime on 8-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. He scored 3 points in the second half on 1-of-7 shooting and finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Indiana shot 60% in the first half and 45.2% after it, and its scoring fell from 66 points to 56.
“We doubled him from the baseline side early in the game, and he picked us apart,” May said. “We came from the top side, and our rotations, other than one time, were pretty clean, and it worked out well for us.”
Santi Aldama, in his third game with Dallas, played 19 minutes and scored 10 points. He was on the floor for 8 minutes, 37 seconds of a third quarter in which Siakam scored 1 point.
“I think in the first half, he got going, and then we were mindful of, when on offense you want to find the hot hand, on defense you want to do the opposite,” Aldama said. “We were just there, we were communicating, we knew where our help was, and we were just being aggressive, we were being physical.”
Some of that drop was coming anyway, since 8-of-9 is not a sustainable half for anyone. The timing still lines up with the move to doubling Siakam from the top side.
Dallas Won The Glass Without Its Full Frontcourt
Dallas outrebounded Indiana 43-27, grabbed 10 offensive rebounds to the Pacers’ 1, and won second-chance scoring 16-3.
P.J. Washington had 9 rebounds, and Walter Clayton Jr. grabbed 4 of his 6 in the fourth quarter. Marshall added 3 offensive rebounds.
“When we rebound like that, it just gives us a chance to win each and every night,” Washington said. “So that’s something we put our hats on each and every night. And it’s crashing the offensive glass, and obviously just get better on the defensive glass.”
Dallas played without Morez Johnson Jr., who had a left shin contusion, and Dereck Lively II, who was out after right foot surgery. Daniel Gafford picked up his fourth foul with 10:40 left in the third quarter and finished with 19 minutes, 36 seconds and 0 offensive rebounds.
Gafford and Johnson each average 2.3 offensive rebounds per game, according to Basketball Reference. Dallas averages 12.5 as a team through 11 games.
“And so we didn’t have cutting, and then obviously when Gaff plays less than 20 minutes, that’s a big part of our offensive rebounding,” May said.
The Mavericks won the glass by 16 on a night their 2 most productive offensive rebounders among the bigs were out or limited. How that margin looks once Johnson and Lively are back is a question for later games.
The Margin Without Irving Was Thin
Irving sat for 2 first-half stretches totaling 5 minutes, 16 seconds, and Flagg was on the floor for both. Irving finished plus-29 in a 3-point win.
Indiana’s bench outscored Dallas’ bench 47-26. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 14 points as a reserve, and Quenton Jackson and Obi Toppin had 10 each. The Pacers finished with 35 assists to the Mavericks’ 26.
“They put so much pressure on the paint, and then they play well together and spray it out,” May said. “And I thought their bench was incredible tonight for them, and just a good win against a great organization, a well-coached team, and a bunch of guys that we have a lot of respect for.”
Dallas missed 4 free throws in the final 4:19 and committed 15 turnovers, 5 by Flagg. With 4 seconds left and a 3-point lead, Washington missed 2 free throws. Toppin grabbed the rebound, Indiana called timeout, and Caleb Martin stole the inbounds pass with 0.9 seconds remaining.
Irving played 38 minutes Monday after logging 29 in Sunday’s 130-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Dallas also finished a 2-0 sweep of the season series with Indiana, after a 121-105 win in Indianapolis on Oct. 23.
Five minutes and 16 seconds is too small a sample to judge the bench. It is still the stretch where a short-handed rotation had the least room for error.
“We haven’t earned anything in this league yet,” Irving explained. “We have to consistently do it every night, and that’s how you build your identity in this league and you earn your respect.”
Dallas opens a three-game road trip Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center, with tip-off at 7 p.m. CT. The Mavericks then visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 14 and the Boston Celtics on Nov. 15.
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