Player Grades: Recapping the Mavericks’ sensational 113-109 win at the Miami Heat

What a damn game, y’all. Cooper Flagg willed the Dallas Mavericks (2-2) to a 113-109 win over the Heat (0-4) on Monday at the Kaseya Center, giving Miami its worst start to a season in the Erik Spoelstra era.

Walter Clayton Jr. was super efficient in his minutes off the bench, and PJ Washington continued his stretch of quality play to start the season in an effort that helped offset a huge triple-double from Heat superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led all scorers with 29 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and dished 11 assists in the loss.

Advertisement

The arrow is pointing emphatically upward at this early juncture in the 2026-27 season. It’s exciting, and it’s fun to watch the Mavericks play basketball at the moment. Savor it.

Cooper Flagg: A+

29 PTS / 6 REB / 11 AST / 5 STL / 3 BLK / 40 MIN

Flagg dropped two early dimes to get Irving going, including an incredible lob find for the star guard’s first bucket of the game. He delivered four assists before the game was four minutes old and five in the first quarter. He connected on a fancy finish of his own on an up-and-under dipsy-do in close after Daniel Gafford’s offensive rebound with 7:10 left in the first.

Advertisement

Flagg took a steal on a drive by Giannis Antetokounmpo with seven minutes left in the first half and delivered his sixth assist to PJ Washington on the ensuing break as Dallas tried to remain within shouting distance of a Heat team playing with more urgency. His first 3-pointer of the game came with just over a minute left in the half and tied the game, 50-50, during a 17-5 Dallas run.

He was quiet in the third quarter, but hit what might have been the biggest shot of the game to that point in the clutch, an and-one turnaround jumper through the foul of Pelle Larson with five minutes left as part of an 18-7 Dallas run that gave Flagg 22 points for the game. He one-upped himself with two minutes left to play though, raising up for his second 3-pointer of the game, which put the Mavs in front 111-105. His defense was sensational throughout, and he took over in the fourth, scoring 12 of his 29 points to will the Mavs to their second win of the season….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/player-grades-recapping-mavericks-sensational-032100912.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-27 03:21:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.