The Mavericks won their most impressive game of the season tonight against the Detroit Pistons, who were coming into the game leading the Eastern Conference standings with five losses. They also had the second-best
record in the entire league before playing Dallas. Dallas defeated Detroit 116–114 in overtime. Cade Cunningham’s 29 points kept Detroit close throughout the game, but Dallas made the crucial plays in the closing minutes. Cooper Flagg led the way for the Mavericks with a team-high 23 points, along with 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and zero turnovers. It was a balanced effort offensively from Dallas, with six total players getting into double-digit scoring, including 15 from Anthony Davis, 16 from Naji Marshall, and 13 from PJ Washington.
Dallas jumped out to a lead by winning the possession game, using offensive rebounds and paint touches to build an early edge despite uneven shooting. Dallas produced second-chance points that Detroit was unable to match, and Cooper Flagg quickly filled the box score with rebounds and defensive play. Outside of Cade Cunningham, the Mavericks’ interior defense limited clean scoring opportunities by forcing Detroit into rugged early looks. Dallas routinely outshot the Pistons to end the quarter ahead 35-30.
In the second quarter, the Mavericks extended the lead by turning defense into offense, forcing turnovers and converting them into transition points. Even in the absence of a scoring explosion, Dallas’ offense continued to function thanks to ball movement that led to assisted baskets. Dallas maintained control by the half because of efficiency, rebounding, and fewer wasted possessions.
Cunningham caught fire for Detroit to start the third, scoring at all three levels, but Flagg matched the momentum with pull-up jumpers, cuts to the rim, and trips to the free-throw line. Dallas took complete control coming out of halftime, outscoring Detroit behind an efficient half-court offense and defensive stops. Flagg stuffed the stat sheet with scoring, rebounds, and assists, while Dallas consistently converted assisted baskets and punished Detroit in the paint. The Mavericks’ defense forced missed shots and empty possessions, allowing them to push the lead back to double digits. This was Dallas’ most complete stretch, combining execution, ball movement, and defensive discipline.
Detroit mounted a comeback in the 4th, almost entirely through Cade Cunningham, who scored repeatedly on pull-ups, drives, and late-clock shot-making. The Pistons were able to reduce the distance because Dallas’ offense fell apart, missing perimeter shots and creating multiple empty possessions. The Mavericks were unable to produce steady offense in the closing minutes, even though Anthony Davis’ rebounding and rim protection kept Dallas afloat. In the end, Cunningham’s scoring spree eliminated the deficit and necessitated overtime.
36-20: the free-throw disparity
The Mavericks proved, hopefully to themselves and their front office, how important it is to get into the paint and create free looks at the foul line to win games and run an efficient offense. The Mavericks scored 60 points in the paint tonight and were fouled 27 times, resulting in 36 free throws attempted. The Mavericks capitalized on their free throws, making 31 of 36, shooting 86%, which probably made the two-point lead the Mavs ended up winning by.
In the most crucial part of the game, overtime, the Mavericks generated points at the free-throw line and in the restricted area with cutters and dunks. The Mavericks need to continue this trend to hopefully get back to .500 in the near future. A game like tonight shows that, even giving up a bunch of points in the paint, as long as the Mavs stay consistent and score in the paint while slowing the game down at the free-throw line, they can still win.
15: Mavericks Blocks
The Mavericks committed to their theorized defensive identity tonight, finishing with 15 blocks. Along with the amazing block numbers, the Mavericks had five steals and held the Pistons to 18% from three on six total made shots from outside the arc. To end the game, the Mavs held the Pistons to one made field goal in overtime, which helped them seize their most impressive win to date.
The Mavericks need to keep up this same defensive intensity if they want to make a run in the West. Not only do the statistics need to be high, but the scheme must remain the same. Not allowing threes and protecting the rim at all costs is the perfect scheme, and the Mavericks, when healthy, have the personnel to execute it at a high level.
26: Pistons Offensive Rebounds
The Achilles heel for the Mavs tonight, besides the awesomeness and explosiveness of Cade Cunningham, was their poor rebounding. The Mavs got outrebounded 62-51 by Detroit, allowing 26 offensive rebounds in the process. In the fourth quarter alone, they allowed six offensive rebounds, which helped the Pistons close the 18-point deficit the Mavericks had at one point and force overtime.
The Mavericks are going to have to clean this up, especially if they want to stay big and keep their multi-center rotation alive. A team with this much size needs to be more disciplined around the rim on the boards. Dominating the glass is a secret weapon this team could utilize if they figure out how. Allowing 30 total second-chance points a night is not a winning formula.
20: Cooper Flagg Field Goals Attempted
The biggest takeaway from this game, from a big picture standpoint, was how the Mavericks are continuing to use Cooper Flagg. Flagg had a team-high 20 shots attempted, including 11 in the 4th quarter in overtime. This may sound meaningless coming off a night where Flagg shot 27 shots on his way to a career high 42 points, but that was without Anthony Davis. Usually, with Davis active, the offense and bulk of the scoring burden have been on him. Tonight, even with Davis on the floor, against one of the best teams in the league, Jason Kidd put the ball in 18-year-old Cooper Flaggs’ hands and let the kid go to work.
Flagg’s night was super impressive, giving the context that he was sharing the floor with one of the NBA’s top 75 guys and a rising superstar in Cade Cunningham, who is making an All-NBA First Team selection. Flagg showed poise and moxie going shot-for-shot with Cunningham down the stretch of the fourth quarter and putting a bow on it by finding Davis for the game-sealing field goal shots. Flagg showed tonight why Mavs fans need to stick around and that the winning will return, and quicker than maybe expected.
