Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard shouts a play during a 2025 NBA Summer League basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, Jul. 10, 2025, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
LAS VEGAS – Cooper Flagg’s statement block initiated Dallas’ fastbreak, sending four Mavericks down the floor and three Lakers scrambling back on defense with roughly one minute to play at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Flagg brought the ball past halfcourt and surveyed the options.
Dallas’ rookie phenom could’ve taken it to the basket himself, but that option seemed less than favorable with two defenders clogging the lane. He could’ve kicked the ball out to Miles Kelly, but Los Angeles’ Sir’Jabari Rice was already racing to the corner to eliminate that threat.
So Flagg went with the most sensible option: deliver a pass behind the right shoulder to Ryan Nembhard, who had plenty of space and even more time at the 3-point line.
The former Gonzaga point guard set his feet, took a long breath and raised up to shoot. Moments later, the ball was dropping through the net and the Mavericks, previously trailing by one point, were suddenly in position to win their highly-anticipated opener at NBA Summer League.
The Mavericks held on for an 87-85 victory against Bronny James and the Lakers, thanks in large part to Nembhard’s production throughout the game and clutch shot-making in the final minute of a tightly-played contest at Thomas & Mack Center.
“I don’t know, there was a guy in the corner and me there,” Nembhard said of the game-winning 3-pointer. “It was just a great play and (Flagg) is going to make the right play.
Nembhard did a lot of that, too, on a night that saw the former Zag lead Dallas with 21 points, deliver five assists and grab two rebounds. The undrafted rookie finished 8 of 14 from the field, 1 of 2 from the 3-point line and 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
Nembhard also registered one steal and consistently picked up Los Angeles players full-court, applying defensive ball pressure throughout the game.
“He speaks for himself,” Mavericks Summer League coach Josh Broghamer said. “We’re talking about, normally you want to get your smallest guy out to get a stop at the end of the game. We want him in, because he’s tough, he’s smart, he’s going to make the right play, he’s going to fight.
“It doesn’t even get looked at, but if you go back and watch, all the times he’s boxing out bigger dudes, he’s fighting guys. They’re falling down and he’s not. Just an incredible game from him, but we knew that coming in that was going to be his calling card and it’s been really, really good.”
The top facilitator in college basketball last season, Nembhard took a more aggressive offensive approach on Thursday, looking for his own shot with other Mavericks struggling. Flagg finished just 5 of 21 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. Dallas starter Maxwell Lewis, a former Pepperdine standout, finished just 2 of 7 and 1 of 4 from deep.
“I just want to come in and be aggressive every single game, try and make plays for the team, try and score the ball,” Nembhard said. “Obviously the gravity on Coop, everyone’s loading up on him and making it tough on him, so it opened things up for other guys.”
Older brother Andrew, a standout guard for the Zags from 2020-22 who just finished a run to the NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers, sat courtside with father Claude during Ryan’s Summer League debut.
Dallas’ courtside contingent also included a cast of current Mavericks, including star guard Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, Olivier Maxence-Prosper and Jaden Hardy.
Gonzaga guard Nolan Hickman, also a member of Dallas’ Summer League roster, didn’t play in the team’s opening game.
### Timme turns heads
There were a few ways to characterize Drew Timme’s opening game at Summer League.
“Head-turning” may have been the most appropriate.
In the figurative sense, Timme turned heads with his 22-point, nine-rebound effort, leading all players in both categories during Brooklyn’s 90-81 loss to Oklahoma City at Thomas & Mack Pavilion.
Timme’s head also took a spin of its own midway through the second quarter. Expecting Brooklyn teammate to take an uncontested 3-pointer from the left wing, Timme turned his back toward the Nets’ first-round draft pick and positioned himself for an offensive rebound.
Wolf had other ideas. The Brooklyn forward passed up the shot and fired the ball toward Timme, pinging his teammate in the back of the head. Running back down the court, Timme pointed toward himself as if to own up to the mental error.
There weren’t many mistakes on Timme’s end before and after. Gonzaga’s career scoring leader was Brooklyn’s most consistent offensive player – by leaps and bounds, in some instances – and finished 10 of 13 from the field in a game where no other Net had more than four field goals.
Timme made 1 of 3 shots from the 3-point line, finished 1 of 4 from the free throw line and had one assist, one steal and one block while playing a game-high 30 minutes.