In our last installment, we took a look at the start of the season. The Mavericks lost their starting center, fired their GM and gave Cooper Flagg plenty of burn as a point guard. As December rolled in, Flagg was already showing exponential improvement and Anthony Davis returned to the lineup after missing 15 out of 16 November games.
December Record: 6-7 (12-22 overall)
The Mavericks opened the month with back-to-back wins, the first of which came against the Denver Nuggets. Dallas won four of their first five games in December, and
five of their first seven. Suddenly, fans started picking up vibes that the Mavs may be finding their way and could ultimately make a push for the PlayIn Tournament or better. The wins weren’t due to a soft schedule either, as Dallas got the best of the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons during this stretch. Then they lost five of their final six games of the month, with the sole victory ironically coming against Denver for a second time in three weeks. The stumble robbed the Mavs of momentum as they entered the new year ten games under .500.
Flagg’s first 40-point game
In an overtime loss to the Utah Jazz on December 15, Flagg scored a point per minute played. He poured in 42 points on 13-for-27 shooting from the floor and 15-for-20 from the free throw line. It may seem like the feat deserves an asterisk for being an OT game, but Flagg actually hit the 40-point mark in regulation. He was still a week shy of turning 19 years old at the time, making this effort even more amazing. Flagg’s game was developing at a rapid pace right before our eyes, with this gem being the highlight to that point.
The emergence of Ryan Nembhard
Nembhard went from a player who did not play a single minute in 13 of the Mavericks’ first 21 games, to a starter in all 13 December contests. During the stretch, he averaged 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He double-doubled on points and assists on three occasions and scored in double figures six times. Although his season overall was up-and-down, he proved a capable floor general when needed and helped bring a semblance of balance to a lineup that was often anything but.
Anthony Davis’ back-to-back 30-point games
Davis gave himself an early Christmas present with two of the best games he played in a Mavericks’ uniform. In a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on December 22, he dropped in 35 points, then followed it up the next night in the aforementioned win over Denver with 31 more. Combined across the two games, Davis scored 66 points on 60% shooting from the floor, to go along with 26 rebounds, six assists, four steals and a blocked shot. Davis was as dominant as he had ever been in his short time with the Mavs. Across those same two games, Flagg scored a combined 49 points of his own, matching Davis’ 30-plus point outing with 33 against Denver. It was a brief glimpse of how effectively Davis and Flagg could play together against a good team, however it wasn’t meant to last, as we’ll see next time when we take a look at January.
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