Cooper Flagg Scores 17 in Second Quarter as Mavericks Fall to Rockets in Macao

MACAO - Cooper Flagg scored 17 of his 19 points in the second quarter Friday and did not play after halftime. The Dallas Mavericks lost the first of two NBA China Games to the Houston Rockets, 135-117, in front of a sellout crowd of 11,564 at The Venetian Arena in Macao.

Houston led 27-19 after one quarter and 65-45 at halftime. Dallas outscored the Rockets 35-34 in the third and 37-36 in the fourth. Houston's lead peaked at 28 points with 8:45 left in the game.

In the first half, the Rockets had 10 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points. Dallas had seven offensive rebounds and 10 second-chance points.

Mavericks coach Dusty May said the Rockets cashing in on the offensive glass was the biggest difference in the first half.

"We came here to learn more about our team, and [we were] well aware that Houston would be able to expose some things that maybe we can't do in practice, and they did that," May said. "I thought our guys responded well in the second half and got closer to matching their physicality and effort. But overall, we're pleased with how we finished the game. There's a lot to clean up, but there's also some bright spots from this one."

Dallas started Morez Johnson Jr., Zaccharie Risacher, Naji Marshall, Flagg, and Max Christie. Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, Santi Aldama, Caleb Martin, and Marcus Sasser did not play.

Flagg, the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, went 1-of-3 in the first quarter. He opened the second with a 14-foot pull-up. Seconds later, he blocked Amen Thompson's driving layup and finished an alley-oop from Marshall at the other end.

He made two more pull-ups from 14 and 16 feet in the quarter and went 6-of-11 in it. His fourth foul came with 4:27 left before halftime.

Flagg finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 19 minutes, shooting 7-of-14 from the field, 1-of-5 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 at the line.

May said Dallas is not running much for Flagg right now and is letting him play in the flow.

"I thought Coop just overall played well," May explained. "I thought his decision making was good. I thought a couple threes were right on line. They looked good. I thought he was making the right plays, the right decisions. Just to see how competitive he is and he's got a — when the lights are on he moves differently, and that's something that you don't ever know until you experience, but just to see him in the game, his potential was through the roof."

Dallas took 51 3-pointers and made 18. Christie went 4-of-11 from deep and scored 14 points. Houston shot 18-of-36 from 3.

Daniel Gafford scored all seven of his points in the first quarter, going 3-of-3, including a 25-foot 3. Sergio de Larrea finished with 11 points and six assists and made all three of his 3-point attempts.

The roster carries a lot of shooters comfortable stepping into a 3, and Flagg expects the looks to come with it.

"I think obviously we have a different identity, different culture," Flagg said. "We're trying to play faster, sharing the ball more. So I think naturally we're gonna fall into some more threes and some easier ones too. I think just passing the ball and kind of just playing through the pass a little bit more. So it would definitely fall into some more threes. But I think we also just have a lot of three-point shooters, guys that are comfortable stepping in and knocking shots down."

Risacher, the first overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in 2024, made his first start for Dallas. He went 0-of-3 in the first quarter.

In the third, he scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. He finished with nine points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes.

Risacher believes he can help Dallas win games and compete.

"I feel like I just played free, just trying to be aggressive at first, and then the game started to slow down a little bit, and I was just getting that rhythm back," Risacher said. "I feel like it was good being around my teammates, talking with them, creating habits and chemistry in a real game. And just taking my time. I feel like that was the main adjustment."

Marshall finished with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Nine came in the third quarter, when he went 4-of-5. Tarik Biberović hit two pull-up 3-pointers in the quarter and finished with nine points.

Tobi Lawal scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-6 shooting with two steals. Jett Howard added eight points in the fourth, and Dwight Powell had eight assists in 13 minutes.

Tari Eason led Houston with 20 points off the bench. Alperen Şengün had 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in 22 minutes.

Fred VanVleet, playing for the first time since tearing his ACL, scored 17 points and made three 3-pointers in the first three minutes. Kevin Durant had 15 points in 23 minutes.

The Rockets committed 21 turnovers. Dallas committed 19.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka said Durant will not play in the second game.

The teams meet again Sunday at The Venetian Arena, with tip-off at 5 a.m. CT on NBA TV. Dallas opens the regular season at Houston on Oct. 21.