Cooper Flagg's Near Triple-Double Gives Mavs Major Boost In Win Over Miami

The Dallas Mavericks got their budding star, Cooper Flagg, back from a shoulder injury Monday night, and with the help of his career night, Dallas pulled out their second victory of the season, 113-109 over the Miami Heat.

Flagg and Giannis Antetokounmpo gave us one of the best early duels of the NBA season, with Flagg finishing with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists, and Antetokounmpo pouring in 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists.

After missing their first four shots, the Mavericks picked it up in the first quarter, leading 17-9 with just over seven minutes left. That lead wouldn't last; the Mavericks missed 10 consecutive shots as the Heat went on an 18-6 run, capped by an Antetokounmpo three-pointer at the end of the quarter.

Dallas shot 29 percent from the field in the first, including 3/14 from three; meanwhile, the Heat shot 52 percent from the field.

To start the second, Miami found their stride from distance after only knocking down a pair of triples in the first quarter. The Heat hit four consecutive threes to start the game and open up a 12-point lead. 

Up to that point, Dallas was having trouble containing Antetokounmpo, as he was flirting with a first-half triple-double. On one drive by Antetokounmpo, Daniel Gafford grabbed him by the neck and pulled him to the ground, sparking a scuffle between Gafford and Miami big man Bobby Portis.

Gafford received a flagrant foul and shared offsetting technical fouls with Portis, marking the second time this season a Maverick has received a technical (Naji Marshall against Indiana).

For the last half of the second quarter, it was Dallas flexing some muscle on offense, going on a 17-4 run to take the lead going into the half. 

The Mavericks were paced in the first half by their star duo of Flagg and Irving, who combined for 24 points, six rebounds, and nine assists; meanwhile, Antetokounmpo finished with a first-half double-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds, to go with eight assists for the Heat.

In the third quarter, Antetokounmpo picked up where he left off in the first half by scoring 13, including a monster dunk over Gafford. He finally got some help from fellow veteran and ex-Maverick Klay Thompson in the form of two triples after going 0/4 in the first half.

However, it was once again Dallas being able to weather the storm and finish the quarter on a 9-3 run to go into the fourth only down by one.

The fourth quarter was a nail-biter the whole way through, with Dallas finding some cushion late.

While Flagg continued to play at a high level, the Mavericks got great production out of recently signed Walter Clayton Jr. who showed all three levels of scoring down the stretch.

After an Andrew Wiggins miss in the corner with less than a minute left, it would be no one else but Cooper Flagg to deliver the dagger on a drive to the rim, finishing with his left hand against Antetokounmpo to put the Mavericks back up four. Miami was unable to get a shot to go down on the other end, and time ran out.

Ball game.

The 2-2 Mavericks return to action on Wednesday against a depleted Oklahoma City Thunder team in Dallas at 8:30 p.m. CT.