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The Dallas Mavericks (4-2) picked up a huge 116-111 win over the Houston Rockets (5-1) on Friday night in their first NBA Cup game of the season. The road to victory was paved with a slew of clutch plays, with Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford leading the way when it mattered most. The NBA defines the “clutch” as the final five minutes of a game when the score is within five or fewer points. Here we break down that exact scenario from the huge win Friday.
4:21: Tie score, 96-96
The Mavericks entered the clutch with a three-point lead. They forced two stops around a Rockets’ offensive rebound but could not convert on the other end. Again they forced a stop, but yielded another offensive rebound to the Rockets, setting up Fred Van Vleet for a game tying three-point shot.
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3:28: Mavs up four, 100-96
Flagg began asserting his clutch-time dominance with an immediate answer to Van Vleet’s three-pointer. At the 4:07 mark, Flagg hit a floater for his 25th point of the night. After a stop and a rebound, Flagg was at it again with a finger roll that was counted as a score after being goaltended.
2:26 Tie score, 100-100
Zaccharie Risacher committed a shooting foul on the following possessing, giving Kevin Durant a chance to drain two free throws. After an Irving missed three-pointer, Van Vleet connected on a bucket to once again tie the score.
1:40 Mavs up 105-100
With the score tied, it was Irving’s turn to respond. Off a Flagg assist, Irving broke the 30-point threshold with a nice 16-foot shot to put the Mavericks up by two points. Caleb Martin committed a shooting foul on Durant, but the 82.7% free throw shooter missed both attempts. Then it was Flagg’s turn to join Irving as a 30-point scorer as he hit a floater, was fouled and connected on the free throw to extend the lead to five points.
1:18 Mavs up five, 107-102
Durant hit a shot to quiet the excitement for a moment, but Irving was not deterred. Dribbling up the court, Irving surprising launched a three-point attempt only seven seconds later. The shot was errant, setting up Gafford for an offensive rebound and put-back. Above the rim, his mini…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/final-five-breaking-down-clutch-143406198.html
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Publish date : 2026-11-01 14:34:00
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