Grading the Mavericks: Cooper Flagg is awesome, and he is only going to get better

The Mavericks went 3-1 over the last week and sit at 7-5 overall. They won three in a row at home against Utah (112-100), Brooklyn (130-93), and Indiana (125-122). Minnesota pummeled them to start off their road trip, 133-94. Cooper Flagg led the team in scoring with 25.3 points per game.

Grade: A-

The Mavericks, once again, had a three-game win streak spoiled by an embarrassing loss. The Timberwolves are much better than the Kings, but the effort from Dallas was similar. Minnesota got any shot they wanted, exposed the Mavericks’ size and lack of point-of-attack defenders, and effectively ended the game in the second quarter.

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The three games prior, however, were great. The Mavericks took care of business against two bad teams and beat an Indiana team that always gives them problems. Morez Johnson Jr. has been awesome in his minutes; his early-season coup de grace was a 13-point, 17-rebound (10 offensive) performance against Utah, where he truly looked like the ninth pick for the first time. He said after the game that he was “back”, implying that the injury that hindered him to start the year had dissipated.

Caleb Martin has been good in his role as defensive connector. P.J. Washington’s jump shot looks so much better this season, likely because he is using his legs more. Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving’s chemistry continues to develop as Irving gets healthier. Speaking of which, Irving played his first back-to-back of the season against Brooklyn and Indiana. Zaccharie Risacher has had his minutes go up and down, mostly correlated to how he is playing game to game. Naji Marshall is one piece that still has not felt right on this team, and his trade status will need to be monitored going forward.

The Mavericks have to wash the stink of the Timberwolves loss as they head to Cleveland and Boston on a Saturday/Sunday back-to-back, and then back home for Golden State on Wednesday.

Straight A’s: Cooper Flagg

Let’s ignore Flagg’s stinker against Minnesota for a second. In the three-game win streak prior, he averaged 29.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, shot seven-of-15 from three, and had nine stocks (steals…

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Publish date : 2026-11-13 19:05:00

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