Mavs Notebook: 4 Takeaways On Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving Teamwork

DALLAS — Cooper Flagg scored a season-high 43 points and Kyrie Irving added 35 as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Indiana Pacers 125-122 on Monday night at American Airlines Center. Dallas trailed 66-56 at halftime, outscored Indiana 69-56 after the break, and improved to 7-4 with its third straight win. Indiana fell to 3-8 while playing without Tyrese Haliburton, who was out with a left hamstring strain.

Flagg and Irving’s combined 78 points drove the result, and the chemistry behind that pairing has already drawn attention. The gamebook and the postgame press conferences point to four other things worth tracking.

Flagg went 16-of-25 from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line, finishing with 43 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. His previous season high was 33, and the 10 rebounds tied his season high.

The makes came from all over the floor. Five of his field goals were dunks or layups, three were hooks, bank shots, or floaters from inside 10 feet, five were jumpers from 10 to 18 feet, and three were 3-pointers. Thirty of his points came after halftime, including 14 in the third quarter on 6-of-6 shooting and 16 more in the fourth.

Mavericks coach Dusty May was asked after the game what makes Flagg unique as a scorer.

“I mean, he gets to the rim,” May said. “I think him almost being a left-handed player in the paint certainly helps. He’s a great left-footed jumper, left-handed finisher, and then he’s able to square in the air from 15, 17 feet. He can just get to his spots, and if there’s a smaller guy, he can jump and just square in the air over them.”

“But he finished at the mid range, he finished at the rim, he got to the line, he’s getting the line more than he has,” May continued. “But he just affects the game in so many ways that he makes the right plays as far as passing. So thank goodness he’s on our team. It’s unbelievable he’s a 19-year-old doing this.”

The last two of Flagg’s 16 field goals were 18-foot pull-ups with 1:02 and 26.3 seconds left. Flagg was asked about those shots during his own press conference.

“Like I said, just all the work all summer long,” Flagg said. “Just preparing myself to be in those moments down the stretch, limited space, limited dribbles, and be able to come out with a bucket and a good comfortable shot.”

Irving played 38 minutes, 20 seconds on the second night of a back-to-back, one night after Sunday’s 130-93 win over Brooklyn. It was the first time this season he played both ends of a back-to-back. He went 11-of-18 from the field, 7-of-10 from 3-point range, and 6-of-7 at the line, and Dallas outscored Indiana by 29 points while he was on the floor, the best mark of any player in the game.

Irving scored 15 points in the first half, 12 of them in the second quarter on 4-of-4 shooting. He added 20 after halftime, including the 23-foot 3-pointer with 9:36 left that put Dallas ahead 98-97 for good. The Mavericks have been working him back from the torn ACL that kept him out last season, and he was asked about that plan after the game.

“I won’t divulge too much information on the injury management plan because my words could get twisted,” Irving said. “But I would say that just in terms of our medical staff and the connection that we have and just the build-up process over the last month, the minutes restriction, just trying to get in better conditioning, better shape and basketball shape playing against best players in the world.”

“When you’re in a combative sport such as basketball, some days are gonna feel good, some days aren’t, especially coming off an injury or a long period of time,” Irving added. “So I just had to get my body back used to being in the flow of the games and just after games, what does my recovery look like? And I was just really excited after last night’s game.”

Irving said he played 29 minutes Sunday and told teammates in the locker room afterward that he planned to play Monday.

Daniel Gafford scored 5 points in the fourth quarter, finishing a cutting layup from Flagg for a three-point play and making two free throws, and Dallas was plus-11 in his 7:41 of fourth-quarter action. With 4:19 left and the Mavericks up 115-108, May took Gafford out for Naji Marshall.

From there, Dallas closed with Irving, Flagg, P.J. Washington, Marshall, and Walter Clayton Jr., none of them a traditional center. That group stayed on the floor until Caleb Martin replaced Irving with 3.7 seconds left. Dereck Lively II (right foot surgery) and Morez Johnson Jr. (left shin contusion) were inactive, and Gafford had carried four fouls since 10:40 of the third quarter.

The smaller group went 3-of-7 from the field over the final 4:19. Indiana scored 14 points to Dallas’ 10 in that span, with Aaron Nesmith producing 9 on three separate trips, but the Mavericks never gave up the lead. Marshall’s floater from Irving with 1:24 left ended a stretch of nearly four minutes without a Dallas field goal.

May walked through those final possessions after the game.

“That short roll action was really clicking in the first half with Caleb, and when Caleb would go out, we weren’t able to get to it as well,” May said. “And I thought Naji created the window. Kai made an excellent pass, and then, but even the two possessions prior to that, we got to the rim. Coop got to the rim, and Naji got to the rim. They both got there and made really good plays, and the ball just didn’t drop.”

“We probably, at that point, we were thinking about spreading the floor again and just trying to open up the driving lanes,” May continued. “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.”

Dallas has played Houston and San Antonio twice each and Oklahoma City once during its 7-4 start. The Kyrie Irving trade conversation has followed the team the whole way, and Irving was asked after the game what has gone right so far.

“I think we’re smart about our motivation and what motivates us in the locker room,” Irving said. “I think we heard a lot of the noise before the season and some of the predictions. And I’m not gonna say anybody wrote us off because it’s not that serious, but I just think because of the roster that we had and no one really sure about where I was gonna be or where our team was gonna be or some of the trade rumors that continue to circle around our team or circle me, and I think we just laid it right there.”

“And I let the team know out of my own mouth that these trade rumors, anything that’s going on with me, do not let this infiltrate our locker room,” Irving continued. “Don’t let this get in the way of what we have building here. We have a lot of depth. We have a lot of youth, and we should use that to our advantage.”

Irving also credited May, who is in his first season as Dallas’ coach.

“But I think another one is Dusty’s doing a great job of confronting us when we’re not doing things right, where we’re not living up to our standards, and he knows that we’re better when we’re hunting, and that’s what we are,” Irving said. “We haven’t earned anything in this league yet. We have to consistently do it every night, and that’s how you build your identity in this league and you earn your respect.”

The Mavericks open a three-game road trip Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center, with tip-off at 7 p.m. CT.