Cooper Flagg was back. For the better part of 26 minutes Thursday night at Kia Center, the Dallas Mavericks looked like a different team.
Then Wendell Carter Jr. caught a pass from Jalen Suggs and slammed home a dunk with 1.4 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic walked away with a 115-114 win that snapped any momentum Dallas had built around Flagg’s return from an eight-game absence.
The Mavericks led for most of the fourth quarter. Flagg made it a four-point game with 37.3 seconds left on a three-point play — blocking Carter at one end, then converting a tough and-one on the other. Before that sequence, Flagg had driven to the basket and appeared to be fouled on a play that was reversed on review. Kidd took issue with the league’s standard on those calls postgame, arguing the allowance puts players at risk.
“They said both players were playing,” Kidd said. “I think that’s something that we have to be cautious of. We don’t want anybody to get hurt. They just felt both players were playing, kind of a play-on situation. But it’s something that we have to address because until someone gets hurt, we’re going to allow this, and that’s not what we want.”
Suggs answered the three-point play with a three-pointer five seconds later to cut it to one. Flagg’s midrange jumper with 10 seconds left rattled out, Carter dunked on the other end, and the Mavericks had 1.4 seconds to work with. Middleton’s inbounds pass led Flagg just a bit too far; the ball bounced off his hand, and Dallas lost its fifth straight game, dropping to 21-41 on the season.
Thompson summed up the feeling in the visiting locker room, sharing a layered perspective. For a team led by such a young star in Flagg, the late-game experiences will only help in the long term. However, there were mistakes the group made that they’d like to have back that could have swung the game in their favor.
“Tonight was tough because that game was completely in our hands,” Thompson said. “There are a couple of mistakes that are going to sting until tomorrow’s tipoff. But it’s going to pay off huge dividends for our young players, especially Cooper. To see him seize the moment toward the end of that game was great and bodes well for his future.”
Cooper Flagg Returns in Historic Fashion for Dallas Mavericks
The night started with history and nearly ended with a win. Flagg’s first basket — a putback at the 9:49 mark of the first quarter — gave him 1,000 career points at 19 years and 74 days old, making him the second-youngest player in NBA history to reach the milestone behind only LeBron James (19 years, 41 days). He finished with 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting, five rebounds, six assists, one steal, and a career-high four blocks in 26 minutes after missing eight games with a left midfoot sprain.
The atmosphere at Kia Center set the tone before tip-off. Flagg spent two years at Montverde Academy — about 30 minutes away — where he won a national high school championship. With roughly 15 minutes before tip-off, he made his way onto the court and a lively applause broke out. Mavericks jerseys, Duke jerseys, and Montverde Academy shirts were spotted throughout the building. When the national anthem was performed, a fan sitting directly behind the team’s bench yelled “Flagg!” into the silence.
After nearly a month away, there was rust. Flagg missed eight of his first 12 shots and went 1-of-5 from three before knocking down his lone triple in the third quarter, immediately following back-to-back turnovers. He threw his hands to the sky on his way back to the defensive end. On the Mavericks’ first possession, he drew two defenders and found Middleton in the corner for the opening points. He found Gafford for a rare alley-oop in the second quarter, picked off a Banchero pass and threw down a two-handed slam in the third, and finished as part of a 14-point fast-break effort for Dallas.
Defense was where Flagg made his loudest statement. He blocked Desmond Bane for an emphatic swat that drew a scream out of him. His fourth block of the night — a clean swat of Carter’s layup in the final minute — set up the and-one on the other end that gave Dallas a four-point lead with 37.3 seconds left. Kidd pointed to that sequence as the moment Flagg’s competitive edge took over.
“It wasn’t just his points,” Kidd said. “He had some incredible blocks. When he got a little upset after the whistle — when he got hit — I thought his energy and intent picked up on the defensive end and he got us going.”
After nearly a month away, the adjustment back to game speed was real, though Flagg kept his assessment straightforward.
“I felt pretty good,” Flagg said. “You’ve got to get back into a rhythm. We haven’t had a ton of games with the new guys, and Khris and I haven’t shared the court a ton. But just getting back into a rhythm, I felt pretty good. I’m ready to get back to it.”
Dallas has now played in its league-high 39th clutch game and has struggled to close them out. Flagg has been in enough of those situations to know what they’re worth, win or lose.
“I’d say I’m pretty comfortable,” Flagg said. “We’ve been in a lot of those situations throughout the season now. We haven’t won a ton of them, but they’re all learning experiences for us right now. What we’ve got to take away from it is that we’ve got to learn and we’ve got to get better. We’re going to be in a lot of those positions moving forward into next year.”
Flagg also played against a familiar face Thursday. Banchero attended Duke, and the two crossed paths in pickup runs before either reached the NBA. Matching up against him in a real game carried a different weight.
“It was good,” Flagg said. “He’s a tough guy. Really skilled, gets to his spots, huge body obviously, and he’s dynamic. He’s a great player. I’ve played against Paolo a little bit in pickup and stuff back in school, so it was cool to get to go against him in a real NBA game.”
Klay Thompson Delivers in Return, Passes Ray Allen on All-Time Three-Point List
Coming off the bench in his first game back from a right adductor contusion, Thompson was the most consistent offensive presence on the floor for Dallas. He finished with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from three — a season-high seven three-pointers — and added four rebounds and one assist in 26 minutes. Thursday’s performance also made Thompson one of three players in NBA history to record 200 or more games with five or more three-pointers, joining Stephen Curry and James Harden. Thursday also marked another individual milestone: Thompson passed Ray Allen on the all-time three-point list. The record meant something to him, and he was careful not to let the moment pass without acknowledging what Allen represented to the game.
“I don’t think I passed Ray yet in the regular season because that is very meaningful to me,” Thompson said. “He was one of the greatest shooting guards of all time. He had the prettiest jump shot for the longest. He was just the ultimate workhorse. He played effectively until he was 40, and he left a great imprint on the game. So to be even in the same sentence as him is a huge honor.”
The shooting looked effortless from the opening possessions, and Thompson traced it back to something simple — the absence of overthinking.
“I think maybe when I made my first shot and didn’t really think about it,” Thompson said. “I felt great pregame. Those few days off really were helpful. Anytime I’m in a good zone, it just feels like the game slows down for me. So it was a great flow for me, and I’m going to take that same mindset and flow state into Boston.”
From the opposing side and now as his coach, Kidd has watched Thompson do this for long enough that the explanation came easily.
“He’s been doing it for so long,” Kidd said. “I don’t think there is anything hard in his book. If he gets a clean look or if he touches the ball, he’s capable. His performance tonight was really good for us.”
Max Christie, who has been in a prolonged shooting slump, scored six points on 2-of-6 shooting from three in 28 minutes Thursday. Thompson has taken on a mentorship role with Christie this season, and his message to the young shooter was rooted in perspective rather than mechanics.
“Max so far has already had a great season,” Thompson said. “He’s a great shooter who’s only going to get better. I just tell him to give himself some grace because Max might be 22 years old and there’s not a lot of players in the NBA who are as effective as him at such a young age. He’s got so many great years ahead of him. I just tell him to be as present as possible and enjoy these early years because there’s nothing like the first major experiences of your NBA career.”
The late-game execution broke down despite Thompson’s shooting. Dallas led by four with 37.3 seconds left and gave up five straight points. Kidd walked through both mistakes that cost the Mavericks the game. Given how rarely Flagg has been able to play since the Mavericks’ recent blockbuster trade to move on from Anthony Davis, there haven’t been many opportunities to build chemistry late in games with Middleton.
“Giving up threes down the stretch,” Kidd said. “We’re up four, and we give up a three. Teaching moment. We overcommitted, and they capitalized. And then that last opportunity — Khris was trying to lead Coop because he felt Cooper was open. It’s just the relationship building in times like this. We need to go through that. Khris is new. Khris saw it. We talked about it, and Cooper was open for a quick second. But it’s just the combination of those two not playing together yet in that type of situation.”
The loss extended the streak to five games, but Kidd framed the close game as part of a longer education for a young roster that will be better for having gone through it.
“I think we learn from both — we learn from making mistakes,” Kidd said. “You’re going to fail in this as a professional athlete, and you can learn from that as a team. It’s not always going to be perfect. For us, being a young team, we’re going through that. We’ve played a lot of close games. We’ve won some, we’ve lost some, but it’s good to go through. Even though we lost, we are winning because we’ve been in a lot of close games and we’re just going to get better as we go forward.”
Khris Middleton, Daniel Gafford Steady Dallas Mavericks
The impact of getting Flagg, Thompson, and Naji Marshall back in the lineup showed up immediately in the first half. Dallas scored 62 points before the break, a significant jump from the 49 it managed against Oklahoma City and 48 against Charlotte in the previous two games.
Middleton was central to that output. He finished with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting with two rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes, scoring 10 of those 19 in the fourth quarter. During Flagg’s eight-game absence, the two spent time breaking down film and talking through the game. It showed in how Flagg talked about him afterward.
“He’s a professional bucket-getter,” Flagg said. “He gets to his spots better than a lot of people in this league. So just having the opportunity to learn from him and be alongside him — I’m really excited.”
Gafford was equally productive in only 25 minutes. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, a game-high 13 rebounds, and two blocks. The night illustrated yet again the challenge of building real continuity on a roster that has rarely been fully healthy, and Kidd didn’t sugarcoat it.
“Gaff was really good,” Kidd said. “When you look at it, the consistency of guys playing as a whole won’t happen this season. Tomorrow we’re going to look different. It’s just the nature of this situation. But I thought this group played well. We can never get this group to play five or six games together. Hopefully, that’ll be next season. Because it’s hard to be consistent when you have one out, two out, two in. That’s just the way the season has been going for us.”
P.J. Washington added 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting, going 3-of-4 from three and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line with five rebounds in 33 minutes. Ryan Nembhard contributed six points on 3-of-5 shooting with two rebounds and four assists in 14 minutes off the bench. Marshall finished with six points on 2-of-10 shooting, going 2-of-2 from the free-throw line with four rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes in his return from a four-game absence with a right finger contusion. Brandon Williams did not play with a left quad contusion. Marvin Bagley III also sat out with a neck sprain, while Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II remain sidelined for the season.
Orlando Magic’s Tristan da Silva, Jalen Suggs Come Up Clutch
Off the Orlando bench, Tristan da Silva was nearly perfect. He finished with 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting, going 4-of-4 from three in 25 minutes — a performance that swung momentum in the third quarter and gave the Magic enough cushion to survive a late Dallas charge. Mosley did not overcomplicate his assessment of what da Silva brought.
“He didn’t miss a shot,” Mosley said. “That’s a pretty good lift. And I’ve got to give a shout out to our bench — that’s another night that Goga Bitadze comes in, plays the right way, does the right thing, just continues to have a presence on the rim, setting great screens, defending the right way. And then Noah Penda did an unbelievable job in there, blocking shots, physicality — all those things are big keys to us winning games and it’s by committee as always.”
Suggs made the two biggest plays of the final 40 seconds — the go-ahead three with 32.2 seconds left and the decisive feed to Carter for the game-winning dunk. He finished with 17 points, seven assists, and three steals. Mosley credited the possession before the dunk as the one that created the real opening — the stop that gave Orlando the transition opportunity in the first place.
“It was the play before that essentially,” Mosley said. “Desmond and Jalen connect on the three that got us back into it, and our ability to sit down and get the stop. And then being able to push the break when the team is not balanced — Jalen made a heck of a play after the stop to get out in transition and find Wendell. It was big time for him to go up and finish with authority.”
Suggs said he considered pulling up for the three before deciding to push it to Carter on the roll, ultimately deferring to the read that opened up in front of him.
“Just trying to get it up the floor,” Suggs said. “See if we call a timeout or not. He let us rock. Wendell did a good job flowing into the drag instead of just stalling out. Got a good hit which led to the big stepping up and he was wide open. I thought about shooting it. Good roll and good finish by Wendell. I think he made the play on that one, to be honest. All I had to do was facilitate it.”
Carter said he noticed Gafford trailing behind him in transition and used that read to set up the drag — knowing Dallas would be caught between guarding the roll and stopping the ball.
“It started with the stop,” Carter said. “We did a really good job of baiting them into a tough two. We got a good box out, and I knew Gafford was behind me on the way down the court, so I thought it would’ve been a good idea to go into a quick drag to put them in no man’s land. And then like Jalen said, he just found me on the roll, and I just finished the play.”
Carter added 15 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes. Banchero had 16 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-17 shooting in 36 minutes. Bane contributed 14 points in 38 minutes, and Anthony Black added eight points.
Orlando leaned on a collective composure to close after Dallas had wrestled back the lead. Da Silva spoke to what was required down the stretch.
“I feel like it shows a great amount of poise to be able to execute down the stretch and not get caught up in the heat of the moment,” da Silva said. “Kudos to Jalen for making that big shot at the end, for setting up Wendell to go ahead late. He’s been making great plays for us.”
Mosley said the game came down to a principle the Magic have leaned on all season — one that nearly slipped away before it held.
“That’s the beauty of the game — you have to play 48 minutes all the way through no matter what is happening,” Mosley said. “It could have gone down when they got the block or the and-one with Cooper Flagg. It’s a big portion of us just continuing to play all the way through. That’s the momentum we’re going to continue to need — play 48 no matter what happens within the game, because it is a game of runs.”
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley spent six years as a Mavericks assistant before taking the Magic job. He was also on the Team USA staff in the summer of 2024 when Flagg — then 17 years old — scrimmaged against the Olympic roster as a member of the Select Team. The talent was unmistakable from the start, Mosley said.
“Right away, you could just see his level of confidence he had in himself and his game because of the work he’s put in,” Mosley said. “His ability to ask the right questions and try to get things right — that’s the mark of a very great player. They’re always curious about what it takes to be your best, but also the level of confidence you have to keep no matter who you’re playing against night in and night out.”
Up Next: Cooper Flagg’s Boston Homecoming
Flagg became the ninth player in NBA history to record 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, and 200 assists in his first 50 games. Since the 1976-77 merger, only Luka Dončić and Michael Jordan have done it. Of the six retired players on that list, all but one are Hall of Famers.
Missing eight games was difficult in a way that went beyond the physical, and Flagg was candid about what the absence cost him.
“I love to compete. I love to play basketball, so having that taken away for a little while is tough,” Flagg said. “But it was a good opportunity for me to learn and get perspective, watch from a different angle. I think I learned a lot over the last couple weeks, but I was definitely ready to get back out there and compete.”
Friday’s game in Boston carries its own weight. TD Garden is the arena Flagg grew up going to as a kid in Newport, Maine. Jayson Tatum is expected to make his season debut for the Celtics after missing nearly 10 months with a right Achilles tear — and Flagg grew up watching Tatum, modeling his game after Tatum’s path from Duke to the league. The admiration for what Tatum has worked through came through clearly.
“His whole recovery has been nothing short of incredible,” Flagg said. “Just how hard he’s worked — you have to give him so much credit for being so driven. To come back as soon as he has is incredible. It’s going to be a really fun game. He’s someone I’ve always looked up to, and I’m excited to face off and compete against him.”
Being able to play at the arena he attended games as a child for the first time as an NBA player, Flagg did not need many words to describe what Friday means.
“It’s really the only arena I went to as a little kid,” Flagg said. “I’m really excited. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m just blessed.”
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