What a damn game, y'all. Cooper Flagg willed the Dallas Mavericks (2-2) to a 113-109 win over the Heat (0-4) on Monday at the Kaseya Center, giving Miami its worst start to a season in the Erik Spoelstra era.
Walter Clayton Jr. was super efficient in his minutes off the bench, and PJ Washington continued his stretch of quality play to start the season in an effort that helped offset a huge triple-double from Heat superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led all scorers with 29 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and dished 11 assists in the loss.
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The arrow is pointing emphatically upward at this early juncture in the 2026-27 season. It's exciting, and it's fun to watch the Mavericks play basketball at the moment. Savor it.
Cooper Flagg: A+
29 PTS / 6 REB / 11 AST / 5 STL / 3 BLK / 40 MIN
Flagg dropped two early dimes to get Irving going, including an incredible lob find for the star guard's first bucket of the game. He delivered four assists before the game was four minutes old and five in the first quarter. He connected on a fancy finish of his own on an up-and-under dipsy-do in close after Daniel Gafford's offensive rebound with 7:10 left in the first.
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Flagg took a steal on a drive by Giannis Antetokounmpo with seven minutes left in the first half and delivered his sixth assist to PJ Washington on the ensuing break as Dallas tried to remain within shouting distance of a Heat team playing with more urgency. His first 3-pointer of the game came with just over a minute left in the half and tied the game, 50-50, during a 17-5 Dallas run.
He was quiet in the third quarter, but hit what might have been the biggest shot of the game to that point in the clutch, an and-one turnaround jumper through the foul of Pelle Larson with five minutes left as part of an 18-7 Dallas run that gave Flagg 22 points for the game. He one-upped himself with two minutes left to play though, raising up for his second 3-pointer of the game, which put the Mavs in front 111-105. His defense was sensational throughout, and he took over in the fourth, scoring 12 of his 29 points to will the Mavs to their second win of the season. Just an amazing performance.
Kyrie Irving: B-
18 PTS / 6 REB / 6 AST / 2 STL / 33 MIN
Irving sprinted out of the gates for seven points in the game's first five minutes, serving as the primary engine for the Mavs' offense. As it all fell apart late in the first and early in the second for the Mavs' offense, he steadied the ship with a nifty little leaner in the lane to pull Dallas to within 41-32.
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He connected on a slashing bucket through the defense of Andrew Wiggins early in the third. His 3-pointer midway through the third was an important one to keep the Mavs connected, down 74-67 at the time. He found a cutting Zaccharie Risacher along the baseline late in the third for a pretty assist that busted Risacher's offensive slump and pulled Dallas to within 83-78. Irving then pulled up with just a second left on the third-quarter clock, hung in the air to let the defender pass him by, and cashed in the bucket that made it an 84-83 game headed to the fourth. It was good to see Irving push past the 30-minute mark in the win, but he shot just 2-of-10 from 3-point land in the win.
Max Christie: C+
11 PTS / 5 REB / 3 AST / 26 MIN
Corner Christie drained his first 3-point attempt on Flagg's third assist of the game, which put the Mavs up 7-4 early on. He hit a second, this time from the top of the key, early in the second to pull Dallas to within 27-26. He does not do much else, though, which sometimes makes Christie a liability.
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Zaccharie Risacher: B
6 PTS / 9 REB / 1 AST / 2 STL / 3 BLK / 30 MIN
Risacher sucked the life out of the Mavericks' offense on his first possession on the floor with five minutes left in the first, suffocating the last 10 seconds of the shot clock before trying to turn around for a desperation heave over Bam Adebayo, which was, predictably, blocked. He then missed a wide open bunny after an offensive rebound, then hustled for a blocked shot and bricked his first 3-point attempt in a helter-skelter exchange late in the first. He turned the ball over when the ancient Bobby Portis knocked the ball out of his hands on a baseline drive with 1:57 left in the first.
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He was not a contributor for much of the game, but nailed a wide open 3-pointer at last, early in the fourth, to pull Dallas to within 90-89, before making 1-of-2 at the free-throw line to tie it at 90-90 seconds later. His grade is boosted here due to the number of plays he made on the defensive end, including a huge fourth-quarter block of Antetokounmpo.
P.J. Washington: A-
20 PTS / 9 REB / 2 AST / 2 STL / 1 BLK / 41 MIN
Washington continued his run of form to start the year throughout the first half. he canned a couple of 3-pointers, including one on Flagg's eighth assist of the half to give the Mavs a 53-52 lead at the half, took away a pair of steals and was part of the defensive effort that at least limited Antetokounmpo's game-wrecking ability.
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Early in the third, though, Antetokounmpo beat Washington on a drive on a play where Washington overcommitted on an inbound play, leaving Gafford to receive a flying knee below the belt as he rose up, but not high enough, in help defense. He would later atone with his fourth 3-ball of the game to pull Dallas to within 83-81 with less than a minute left in the frame. Washington played winning basketball again. This is becoming a welcome trend.
Daniel Gafford: B
8 PTS / 8 REB / 3 AST / 1 STL / 3 BLK / 26 MIN
Gafford made some awkward plays on both ends in the first quarter, but did come up with a nice blocked shot on Portis' baseline drive in the frame's final minute. His coach put him in a bad spot with the defensive assignment against Antetokounmpo in the second quarter, and when he hacked Antetokounmpo on the way to the bucket, Portis took exception, and a scrum ensued, resulting in a flagrant-1 for Gafford and double technicals for Gafford and Portis, both former Arkansas Razorbacks. Later in the second, Gafford made good by meeting Antetokounmpo at the rim for his second blocked shot of the first half.
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He stepped up in help defense as Antetokounmpo barreled down the lane early in the third and received a knee to the groin for his troubles. He came back in just minutes later, which was good to see, and cleaned up Flagg's miss to bring Dallas to within 70-64. He fouled out with just over four minutes left to play in the win. It was a solid effort, with a slight bonus for the violence perpetrated against his midsection.
Marcus Sasser: C-
0 PTS / 1 REB / 8 MIN
Sasser was not a factor in his eight minutes on the floor. He was supplanted in the rotation by the red-hot Walter Clayton Jr. He was 0-for-3 from the floor and missed badly on a pair of 3-point attempts.
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Sergio De Larrea: INC
0 PTS / 1 REB / 6 MIN
De Larrea played just six minutes in the first half, didn't have much of an impact on the proceedings, then left the game with what the team called a left knee strain after bumping (getting shoved by?) former Maverick Tim Hardaway Jr.
Morez Johnson Jr.: C
6 PTS / 2 REB / 1 AST / 15 MIN
Johnson picked up his first two fouls in his first 20 seconds on the floor against the Heat, so, yea, that's about how things are going right now for the rookie. He looks like a rookie. He showed some nice touch, however, early in the second quarter on a short turn-around jumper, but lost Portis on defense on three consecutive possessions, resulting in Portis 3-pointers on three straight possesions, extending the Miami lead to 39-30 early in the second.
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He left Sasser out to dry late in the shot clock with 8:45 left in the first half on a possession that ended in a shot clock violation. Johnson just couldn't get out of his own way, committing his fourth foul after just eight minutes on the floor, barely more than three minutes into the second half. Johnson put back a big bucket off a missed 3-pointer by Washington with 3:40 left to play to give the Mavericks a 108-103 lead. He battled, whether it was against himself or against the Miami bigs.
Walter Clayton Jr.: A
15 PTS / 4 REB / 4 AST / 1 BLK / 17 MIN
Clayton came in 18 minutes into the game and immediately hit a little leaner in the lane, played the two-man game with a cutting Flagg to perfection for a pretty reverse bucket, then nailed a corner 3-ball with 3:44 left in the first half to pull Dallas to within five, down 50-45. He was one of the engines behind the Mavs' 17-5 run late in the second.
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He hit another big 3-pointer in response to a hot stretch by Miami that kept Dallas within 79-72, putting Clayton at eight points in his first seven minutes on the floor. Talk about efficiency. But he wasn't done putting his fingerprints all over this game. He drove for a tough score to pull Dallas to within 93-92 with 8:27 left to play, then converted an even tougher drive through a Portis foul on the fast break the next time down. He completed the three-point play to give him 13 points in 13 minutes and put the Mavs ahead 95-93. He shot 6-of-7 from the field in what we may look back on as his breakout game.
