The Dallas Mavericks (3-2) blew out the Oklahoma City Thunder (4-1), 120-96, on Wednesday night in Dallas. Cooper Flagg led a balanced Dallas attack with 26 points, while Ajay Mitchell led the Thunder and all scorers with 29 points.
It was a dominant showing for this rising Mavericks team. OKC entered the night undefeated but seriously undermanned — Jalen Williams is out for the season, Cason Wallace is out indefinitely, while Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso were out with minor injuries. This wasn’t
a game the Mavericks had to win, but it was as good an opportunity as ever to take down a championship favorite.
Dallas did so by jumping on OKC from tipoff and never letting up. The Mavericks outscored the Thunder in all four quarters and led for 81 percent of this game. Outstanding win.
Here are the numbers we noticed.
16-5: Mavericks advantage in made 3s
The Thunder are a dangerous shooting team with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander running the show, but missing three of their better 3-point shooters, the Mavericks took advantage. Dallas made 16-of-45 from distance, while the Thunder were just 5-of-32.
That massive shooting disparity basically decided the game. Dallas wasn’t on fire so to speak from deep, but took a ton of threes and made just enough. It was a team effort, as no Maverick made more than three 3s, while six Mavericks made at least two 3s. Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg made three apiece in the win.
Just as important as the lack of makes for OKC were the attempts — Dallas took 13 more threes than OKC, and the Mavericks did a decent job of running the shooters OKC had left off the line. Some of this is luck, for sure — OKC’s Jared McCain went an uncharacteristic 0-for-6 — but credit the Dallas defense for digging in and doing the work on rotations and closeouts.
30: Mavericks assists
It was a rocky start for Dusty May’s offensive system in the season opener against the Rockets, but since then the Mavericks offense has been mostly humming, and Dallas was at it again with another outstanding passing night. Dallas had 30 assists on 46 made buckets, with only nine turnovers.
May encourages ball movement and player movement, and at first it almost felt like the Mavericks were oversharing to start the season, getting a bit too far away from their best players. That balance has come back, led by Flagg’s brilliance as a decision-maker. He had eight assists and zero turnovers against the Thunder as he continues to grow as a playmaker.
10: Caleb Martin points
Caleb Martin hasn’t had a good run in Dallas since being traded to the Mavericks in February of 2025, plagued by injuries and anemic shooting. Martin had a history of being a solid vet before coming to Dallas, so it was unfortunate just how much the wheels fell off once he landed in Dallas. That’s why we’re taking note of Martin’s stellar first game of the season — 10 points 14 minutes off the bench, going 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Martin only scored in double-figures seven times last season, so for him to return from injury and immediately score 10 feels notable. If Martin can give this Mavericks team anything, it’ll be a tremendous boost to what is suddenly looking like a very deep rotation.
