Cooper Flagg recorded a career-high 12 assists and 25 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 130-93 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. The 37-point margin of victory stands as the largest for Dallas since they beat the Memphis Grizzlies back in October 2022. This result marks a season-high in points for the Mavericks while they shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field.
The Nets never led the game and fell behind by 37 points at one stage. Brooklyn was playing the second night of a back-to-back and struggled from the opening tip. They shot just 2-for-10 to start the game and could not find a way to slow down Flagg. Michael Porter Jr. recorded 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Nets.
Defense Crumbled Against Rhythm
Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernández admitted the defensive breakdowns were severe after the game. “Yeah, obviously defensively we were not connected, and we made a lot of mistakes. And then a team like this, when they’re in rhythm with the players that they have, it’s when you can get hurt,” Fernández said. According to Yahoo Sports, the Nets surrendered a 57.1 percent shooting rate, with 61.9 percent occurring just in the opening half.
Turnovers also hurt the Brooklyn cause significantly. The team committed 21 turnovers total, which generated 25 points for Dallas.
Flagg Creates Open Looks for Teammates
Flagg’s playmaking opened the floor for his teammates throughout the contest. Daniel Gafford scored 18 points and added three blocked shots in the win. Gafford praised Flagg’s impact during his postgame interview. “[Flagg is] a phenomenal player,” Gafford said. He added, “Everybody is paying attention to him, and that leaves me with open shots. He keeps saying he’s going to get me the ball, and that’s what he’s doing”.
Kyrie Irving contributed 21 points and finished 9-of-15 from the field. The trio of Irving, Gafford, and Flagg combined to shoot 24-of-36 from the floor. The Mavericks held the lead for roughly 47 minutes of the game. This victory improves Dallas to 6-4 on the season.
Brooklyn drops to 2-8 on the year and 0-2 to start their four-game road trip. Julius Randle finished with 13 points and a minus-33 rating. Yahoo Sports reports that 19,184 spectators attended the match at American Airlines Center.
