The Dallas Mavericks (6-15) found a way on Saturday behind 35 points and eight rebounds from rookie phenom Cooper Flagg and pulled out a gutty 114-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers (5-15) at the Intuit Dome.
This team must be cursed, though, man. Without Anthony Davis on the second night of a back-to-back and without Daniel Gafford, who sat against the Clippers with an ankle injury, P.J. Washington was a late scratch from the Mavericks’ roster after slipping on a wayward basketball during warmups. Washington was getting treatment on his right ankle after the fall, according to the broadcast on KFAA, and Naji Marshall replaced him in the starting lineup.
Kahwi Leonard came into the game averaging 26 points per game over the last three, including a 15-of-24, 39-point performance in Friday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzles. But without any presence to speak of on the interior, it was Ivica Zubac who feasted early on as the Clippers used an early 12-2 run to sprint out to a 15-6 lead.
With the Mavs begging for offense early on, Cooper Flagg answered the bell as he’s not often done, scoring Dallas’ first eight points of the game. Flagg scored 12 points in the game’s first nine minutes in his best first quarter of the season by a mile.
The rest of the team struggled around Flagg, though, shooting a collective 2-for-10 in the game’s first nine minutes. Brandon Williams came in to give Dallas a lift with eight points off the bench toward the end of the first, and the Clippers took a 28-25 lead after one.
A rare 3-point play from Dwight Powell and a 3-pointer from newly enshrined starting point guard Ryan Nambhard swung things in the Mavs’ favor early in the second. Dallas went on a 15-4 run starting late in the first to take the lead before LA responded with a 14-2 run of their own midway through the frame to take the lead back, 42-35, on a pair of free throws from James Harden.
Flagg was the constant for the Mavs in the first half. He was aggressive with the ball in his hands, driving decisively on a night when Dallas needed everything the 18-year-old rookie could give the team. He followed his 12-point first quarter with nine more in the second as the Mavericks hung around, trailing 56-49 at halftime. Flagg shot 10-of-17 in the first half in an effort that the Mavs desperately need to see replicated as the season wears on.
Flagg unfurled
Perhaps Flagg’s big night was a function of the injury-depleted roster the Mavericks were forced to go to battle with on Saturday. Or, perhaps it was a step toward the realization on his part and on the part of his teammates that Flagg’s time is now. Whatever the case, at the quarter pole of the season, we largely know what this team is and what it isn’t.
The most important thing the Mavericks can accomplish the rest of the way is cementing Flagg’s position as the alpha dog on this roster. He got to the basket at will with a lethal left hand all night against the Clippers, and that needs to be the blueprint going forward.
Flagg detonated for an explosive driving slam over Zubac to bring the Mavericks to within 65-61 with 7:55 left in the third before hitting a turnaround inside through Leonard’s foul the next time down for a 3-point play. He found Moussa Cisse streaking in transition for a hoop inside over two Clippers to give Dallas its first lead of the second half, 69-67, midway through the third.
“Just staying with it,” Flagg said in his televised postgame interview. “We’ve got a lot of talented guys, so it’s going to be someone different every night. These guys just give me confidence, they tell me to go out there and be myself. I’m just figuring it out.”
Flagg’s 35 points are the most scored by a rookie this season. He became the second-youngest player in NBA history to notch a 30-point game in the win over the Clippers.
A little good, a little bad
The good news? The Mavericks limited the turnovers against the Clippers on Saturday, coughing the ball up only once in the first half and just eight times in the win after coming into the game 26th in the league in turnovers, at 16.6 per game.
The bad news? The 3-pointer was once again non-existent for Dallas until Klay Thompson got hot in the second half. They hit just 2-of-20 (10%) in the first half and just 11-of-39 (28.2%) for the game. Cormac Karl “Max” Christie, who has been the Mavs’ only bright spot from 3-point range this season, went 0-for-6 from deep, including 0-for-2 from the corner, in the first half on his way to 1-of-8 from 3-point land in the win.
Dallas fared much better from the perimeter in the third quarter, improving to 5-of-8 from 3-point range, including a pair from both Nembhard and Klay Thompson. Better shooting helped the Mavs erase the Clippers’ seven-point halftime advantage and send the game to the fourth quarter knotted up at 83-83.
Kawhi vs. Klay throwback
Leonard scored nine points in the first four minutes of the second half to give the wily veteran his second 30-point game in as many nights. He was the Clippers’ answer every time the Mavs wrestled the lead back. Leonard’s 3-point play on an 18-foot runner with less than nine minutes to play gave Los Angeles a 92-89 lead.
Flagg turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter as LA sent more and more double-teams his way. His right thumb also seems to be bothering him, which could have been part of his second-half drop-off on Saturday.
Thompson scored all 23 of his points in the second half, including six 3-pointers. His turnaround from four feet behind the 3-point line with 4:30 left in the game tied the game, 96-96. After two more free throws from Harden the next time down, Thompson rinsed and repeated that clutch-time stroke for his fifth 3-ball of the second half to give the Mavericks a 99-98 lead.
Flagg rose up for a perimeter jumper with 2:47 left to put the Mavs back in front 101-100 before John Collins answered with his first 3-pointer of the game to see-saw Los Angeles back in front. Then, with 1:45 left, Thompson just beat the shot clock for his sixth 3-pointer of the second half to give Dallas back the lead. Two free throws from Flagg gave the rookie a new season- and career-high mark of 31 points with 1:20 left, and the Mavericks held on for the gutsy win.
Leonard led LA with 30 points and eight boards in the loss, while Harden added 29 points and 11 assists.
The Dwight Powell game
INGLEWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 29: Dwight Powell #7 of the Dallas Mavericks passes the ball during the game against the LA Clippers on November 29, 2025 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
INGLEWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 29: Dwight Powell #7 of the Dallas Mavericks passes the ball during the game against the LA Clippers on November 29, 2025 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
NBAE via Getty Images
The Mavericks don’t win this game without a gargantuan effort from ever-present glue guy Dwight Powell, who finished with nine points, five rebounds and six steals after Mavs head coach Jason Kidd broke glass in case of roster emergency. In what turned into a crazy game down the stretch, Powell was a steady presence all night long.
Sure, he couldn’t do much against the much bigger Zubac in one-on-one situations in the post. But Powell seems to always find a way to leave his fingerprints on one weird win a year, and Saturday night was that night this year.