The Dallas Mavericks’ 2026-27 season got off to a rocky start on Wednesday night, as they got blown out by Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets, 128-110. After only trailing 32-26 when the first quarter ended, the Mavs proceeded to get outscored 38-12 in the second quarter, which ended up being the deciding factor in the game. Dallas outscored Houston 72-58 in the second half, but it was already too late.
It was a little bit of a mixed bag when it came to the performances of the Mavs’ two stars, 19-year-old
Cooper Flagg and 34-year-old Kyrie Irving, who was playing his first real NBA game in nearly 600 days following an ACL injury. Flagg finished with a game-high 32 points (10-17 FG, 11-13 FT), five rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block in 33 minutes of action. He poured in 23 of his 32 points in the second half alone. Irving finished with 15 points (6-9 FG), four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Both Flagg and Irving had four turnovers each.
Following the loss, Mavs head coach Dusty May gave his thoughts on how his two stars played in their first real game together.
“I thought he was setting us up,” May said of Flagg’s second-half scoring. “In the first half I thought he was being very intentional with getting his teammates shots, and then, in the second half, we did a better job of getting some off-ball movement. We played a little bit faster, and then obviously if you’re not taking the ball out of the net, you can get it up and attack quickly. I thought that was the biggest difference. We just — our pace got a lot better in the second half.”
Getting to the free-throw line was something Dallas struggled with in the preseason, so Flagg’s ability to get to the stripe 13 times and convert 11 of them was a welcome sight for May.
“That’s been a point of emphasis, and that’s one thing, when we evaluated ourselves after four [preseason] games, getting to the line wasn’t something we did well,” May said. “We thought [Flagg] was the best way to capitalize in the paint. I thought he was strong. I thought he made good decisions. When we start knocking down some open shots, his assist numbers will increase.”
Irving was efficient on Wednesday night, but the problem was that his shots were limited. That obviously wasn’t by May’s design, but it’s what the Rockets’ defense forced the Mavs into.
“He’s obviously the focal point,” May said of Irving being limited to nine field-goal attempts by Houston’s defense. “They put two on the ball. I thought he made the right plays, the right decisions. There [are] going to be puzzles we’re going to have to figure out. Playing four-on-three with our other guys — we’ve got to do a better job and find some solutions.
“But I thought there in the second half, he showed a real — his true character — in being a leader when things weren’t going well, I thought he set a great example. Our bench was phenomenal. They were cheering for each other. We’re worried about getting better, especially starting with a couple games on the road like we are. We’re focused on getting better, and I was proud of the way the guys stayed connected and stayed fighting until the end. That showed some character.”
The Mavs now shift their attention to another road test against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night before opening up at home against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. The Pacers started their season off 1-0 with a 123-120 win over the New Orleans Pelicans after star point guard Tyrese Haliburton made his return from an achilles injury he suffered in the 2025 NBA Finals.
“[We have to] learn from what we did well,” May said. “I thought we made some strides in areas we’ve struggled in. But just look at the film. The lowest-hanging fruit — what can we fix in a 48-hour period, so we’re not out here chasing every rabbit, but focus on a couple of things so we can just trust it a little bit more. From everybody, we’ll fix that area. … These extra possessions, they steamroll on you, so if we just clean up a few things, I think we’ll make a significant jump.”
