Flagg Stars as Mavericks Hand Thunder Their First Loss of the Season

Cooper Flagg produced the finest performance of his young career so far as the Dallas Mavericks handed the Oklahoma City Thunder their first defeat of the season, winning 120-96 at American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. Flagg scored 26 points with eight assists and five rebounds, committing no turnovers in nearly 33 minutes, and opened with 12 points in the first quarter to set the tone. P.J. Washington added 18 points, while Kyrie Irving scored 15 in his first home regular-season game since March 2025, when he suffered a torn ACL. Oklahoma City, shorn of Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso through injury, stayed in touch for a half, cutting a 12-point deficit to four late in the second quarter before Dallas led 65-59 at the break. An 11-0 run early in the third quarter, started by Flagg finding Irving and finished by Flagg's own pull-up jumper, broke the game open for good. Dallas held the Thunder to just 37 second-half points and won the three-point battle emphatically, hitting 16 triples to Oklahoma City's season-low five from 32 attempts. The Thunder fell to 4-1, missing the chance to become the first team to start three straight seasons 5-0, while Dallas improved to 3-2 and moved above .500 for the first time since Flagg arrived.