Mavs Blow By Thunder 120-96 in Kyrie Irving's Home Return From Injury

Kyrie Irving made his return to the hardwood of the American Airlines Center after tearing his ACL in the arena 604 days prior.

But although he remains one of the youngest players on the team, Cooper Flagg is the Mavs' box-office attraction.

The reigning Rookie of the Year led Dallas with 26 points, five rebounds, eight assists and no turnovers. Dallas, at 3-2 on the season, is now above .500 for the first time in Flagg's career.

Flagg played in his fourth-ever game alongside Irving after the veteran point guard missed the entire 2025-26 season. Irving is playing on a minutes restriction, but made the most of his time on the floor with 15 points and four assists.

"He just makes it easy to play with him," Flagg said about Irving recently, via ESPN. "Obviously, he's one of the greats of our game. He's an incredible talent, but I think that combined with his personality makes it easy to fit next to and play with him."

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The Mavs outscored the Thunder by 25 points when Irving was on the court.

Two-time defending league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points, but for a second game in a row, Ajay Mitchell led the Thunder in scoring with 29 points. Mitchell posted a career-high of 30 in OKC's win over Phoenix on Monday.

Oklahoma City, perhaps in an emotional hangover, lost its first game of the season as four key contributors - Jalen Williams (ankle/leg), Chet Holmgren (knee), Cason Wallace (shoulder) and Alex Caruso (ankle) - were out with injuries.

Irving gave MFFLs something to cheer about right away as he was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first quarter. Dallas shot 7 for 13 from the perimeter in the opening period to take a three-point lead into the second.

The Mavs outscored the Thunder 21-12 to open the second quarter, with Marcus Sasser hitting a sidestep triple to give Dallas a lead of 12.

A few minutes later, Oklahoma City rallied with Mitchell's 3 trimming the deficit back to five. Dallas went with a small-ball lineup of Flagg and P.J. Washington as the primary post players for the final possession of the half, which ended with the former making two free throws for a 65-59 lead.

Flagg's playmaking was on display in recording his first-career half with five assists and no turnovers. The teenage star was following up his 11-assist night in Monday's win over Miami.

Walter Clayton Jr. brought facilitation off the bench with five assists for Dallas. Six other Mavs joined Irving and Flagg in double-digit scoring.

OKC outscored Dallas 26-14 in the paint in the first half, but the Mavs built their edge off of 11 3-pointers to the Thunder's three.

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Center Daniel Gafford accounted for one of those makes for Dallas. Gafford connected on his first regular-season 3-pointer on his first attempt of the season. Coming into his eighth season with just one 3-point attempt, the big man's newfound skill is a result of rookie coach Dusty May's goal to diversify the Mavericks' offensive spacing and playmaking.

The Mavericks made 16 3-pointers, a season-high, on 36 percent shooting. Oklahoma City shot just 5-of-32 from behind the arc, a season low for makes and conversion rate.

Dallas used a rangy defense and a 9-0 run to take a 13-point lead early in the third quarter. OKC wouldn't go away, answering with an 8-0 spurt of their own.

The Mavs retook their 13-point advantage going into the fourth quarter at 94-81. Flagg was already up to his end total of 26 points going into the final period after scoring 10 in the third, mostly off of an array of midrange attempts rising over the defense.

In the early portions of the fourth quarter, Dallas sprinted to a 17-0 advantage in fast-break points to extend the lead to as large as 27.

The Mavericks (3-2) host the Rockets on Friday.

The Thunder (4-1) will keep an eye on that one; OKC is off until its game at Houston on Saturday.