Dallas flips a second-half deficit
Houston arrived unbeaten and left with its first loss. The Dallas Mavericks beat the Rockets 116-111 on Friday night, an NBA Cup opener for both teams, after erasing an 11-point hole in the second half.
Kyrie Irving scored 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting and added nine assists. Cooper Flagg had 33 on 13-of-19 with nine rebounds. Together they produced 68 points, 27 of them in the fourth quarter. Daniel Gafford chipped in 18 points and two blocks, and Zaccharie Risacher gave the bench 12.
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Flagg starts hot, Houston answers
Flagg scored 10 straight points in the first quarter, and an 11-2 Dallas run capped by a Risacher dunk made it 27-20. Houston wrestled control back in the second. Amen Thompson’s dunk put the Rockets up 36-35, and an 8-0 burst featuring a Jabari Smith Jr. jumper, a three and a transition dunk stretched the lead. Houston went to the break up 51-44.
Dallas chipped away through the third. The closing minutes then turned on small details. Flagg’s floater and three-point play made it 105-100 with 1:40 left. Thompson missed two free throws that would have tied it with 42 seconds to go, and Flagg answered with a turnaround jumper at 24.3 seconds. Smith’s three cut it to 109-108, but Gafford made two free throws to keep Dallas ahead.
Houston’s night
Kevin Durant led the Rockets with 28 points and Smith had 22. Tari Eason posted 11 points and 13 rebounds. Houston missed six free throws in the fourth quarter and played without Alperen Sengun and Reed Sheppard, both out with back issues. Dallas shot 51.9% and went 9-for-10 at the line in the final period.
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