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2026-27 · Regular season
Kyrie Irving scores 35, Cooper Flagg 33, and the Mavericks hand Houston its first loss: ‘It’s just unbelievable to think that he’s a teenager’
Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg both scored 30 in the same game for the first time, Irving with 26 after halftime and Flagg with 11 in the fourth, as Dallas came back from 11 down to beat Houston 116-111.
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For the first time since they became teammates, Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg both scored 30 points in the same game. Irving had 35 and Flagg 33 on Friday night in Dallas, and the Dallas Mavericks came back from 11 points down to beat the Houston Rockets 116-111, the Rockets’ first loss of the season.
Asked about Flagg after the game, Irving started with his age. “It’s just unbelievable to think that he’s a teenager,” he said. “You know, he’s 19 years old, wonderful talent, wonderful person, but the way he competes, it just galvanizes the group.”
Irving on Flagg after the win, posted by the NBA on X.
The two lines
Irving went 12-of-19 from the field, 5-of-8 from three and 6-of-6 at the line, with four rebounds and nine assists in 35 minutes. The 35 points were his most since he came back this season from the torn ACL he suffered in March 2025, an injury that kept him out of Flagg’s whole rookie season. His previous high in five games back was 24 at Indiana.
Flagg went 13-of-19, missed all four of his threes and made 7 of 10 free throws, with nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in 39 minutes. It was his best scoring night of the season, one more than the 32 he scored in the opener at Houston. Through five games he is averaging 26.8 points.
Between them they made 25 of 38 shots, scored 68 of Dallas’ 116 points and had 15 of its 24 assists.
Flagg early, Irving late
It was Flagg’s game first. He scored 12 of Dallas’ first 21 points, made six of his first seven shots and had 15 by halftime, when Irving had nine on 3-of-8 shooting. Houston closed the second quarter strong and led 51-44 at the break, then 84-76 after three quarters.
Irving scored 26 points in the second half, 16 of them in the fourth quarter, when Dallas outscored Houston 40-27. His 29-footer cut the gap to 86-85 with 8:46 left, and his 28-foot three with 7:01 left put the Mavericks up 91-88. He also set up Daniel Gafford for a dunk and Caleb Martin for a jumper as Dallas went up 95-90.
Irving’s go-ahead three with 7:01 left, posted by the NBA on X.
The last 2:26
Fred VanVleet tied the game 100-100 with a floater with 2:26 left. The two Dallas stars then set each other up on back-to-back possessions: Irving hit a 16-foot pull-up off a Flagg pass, and Flagg scored on a driving floater from an Irving pass, was fouled and made the free throw for 105-100 with 1:40 left. That basket gave him 30.
Flagg’s three-point play with 1:40 left, posted by the Mavericks on X.
Kevin Durant, who led Houston with 28 points, cut it to 107-105 with a jumper with a minute left. Flagg answered with a turnaround from 13 feet with 24.3 seconds to go for a 109-105 lead, and Dallas closed it out at the free-throw line. Flagg had 11 points in the fourth quarter and 18 after halftime.
“All the great players are able to just get to their spots and raise up and knock them down,” Flagg said of the turnaround. “So that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Irving said the two of them closing games together was something new for him. “Having a teenager out there, making these tough shots and getting in ones and being as clutch as anyone I’ve seen, it’s just amazing to be a part of,” he said. “We just play off each other well.”
A free-throw streak and a missed chance for Houston
Irving’s first free throw with 8:50 left in the third quarter was his 50th in a row, going back to Feb. 10, 2025, against Sacramento, the longest streak of his career and the longest active one in the league, according to the team. He made his last four in the final 6.2 seconds, so the streak now stands at 55.
Houston, playing without Alperen Sengun, missed chances at the line. Durant missed two free throws with 1:53 left and Dallas up 102-100, and Amen Thompson missed two with 42 seconds left and Houston down 107-105. The Rockets went 7-of-29 from three and 24-of-33 from the line despite 20 offensive rebounds. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 and Fred VanVleet 16.
“We’re extremely excited to win a game that was in the trenches,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said.
Nine days after the opener
The win reversed the season opener, when Houston beat Dallas 128-110 on Oct. 21 in Irving’s first game back. The Mavericks are 4-2 and 1-0 in NBA Cup group play, and 4-1 when Irving and Flagg both play. Their only other loss came against San Antonio on Oct. 24, a game both missed. Houston fell to 5-1. Daniel Gafford added 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and the Mavericks are still without Dereck Lively II, who is out after right foot surgery. “You can tell he’s really just itching to get back out there,” Flagg said.
Dallas hosts Sacramento on Monday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. ET (3 a.m. Tuesday Cairo time), then plays at San Antonio on Wednesday. For the full game story, see our Mavericks-Rockets recap.
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