The Dallas Mavericks (4-10) ended their three-game losing streak with a thrilling overtime victory, 138-133 over the Portland Trailblazers, powered by their pair of pugilistic powerful forwards, Cooper
Flagg and P.J. Washington. Here’s hoping the team will build on this victory as the season progresses. Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe led all scorers with 36 points, and Deni Avdija filled the stat sheet with 29 points and 7 assists, but both came up short in overtime thanks to the Mavericks’ grit and timely shooting at the end of the game.
Continued growth for Flagg
When asked after about his performance in the postgame interview, Mavericks Rookie Cooper Flagg said, “I want to impact this game at a high level and in a lot of different ways, and I’m just blessed to be able to do that.”
His performance in Sunday’s win demonstrated the potency of Flagg’s two-way impact on the court. With just under a minute left in regulation, Flagg sunk the game-tying free throw to send the game into overtime. He went on to contribute four more points in OT for a total of 21 points, including 15 in the second half and in overtime, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and a steal in one of his best outings of his young career.
P.J. Washington’s hot shooting
PJ Washington also contributed heavily to Sunday’s win. Washington matched Cooper’s 21 points with 21 of his own. He scored 18 of those 21 points on five made 3-pointers.
Klay Thompson also hit five 3-pointers on Sunday — including a couple early in the game to keep the score close when Portland raced out to an early lead. Washington has shot pretty poorly from 3-point range this year, so let’s hope tonight’s performance will be a catalyst for change moving forward.
Other notes
Daniel Gafford and Brandon Williams also played huge roles against the Trail Blazers. Gafford flexed and muscled his way to 20 big points and six boards, while Williams poured in 15 points in his fourth start of the year.
As Flagg said in his post-game interview, “We’re a really competitive group of guys, and a win goes a long way and hopefully we can use this.”
The Mavericks’ will look to use Sunday’s win to propel them on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back set against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
