Pacers vs. Mavericks: Flagg's 43 and Irving's 35 Erase a 13-Point Hole in a 125-122 Dallas Win
Cooper Flagg scored 30 of his season-high 43 points in the second half and Kyrie Irving added 35 as the Mavericks came back from 13 down to beat Indiana 125-122 at the American Airlines Center on Monday night, improving to 7-4 and sweeping the season series.
The Dallas Mavericks closed their home back-to-back with the kind of win that travels. Dallas beat the Indiana Pacers 125-122 at the American Airlines Center on Monday night, overturning a 13-point deficit behind two performances that shared the night evenly: Cooper Flagg scored a season-high 43 points, 30 of them in the second half, and Kyrie Irving added 35, drilling seven of his ten three-point attempts. Flagg hit 16 of 25 shots and filled the rest of the line with 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. At 19, he became the second teenager ever to post a 40-point, 10-rebound, five-assist game, after Kevin Durant did it for Seattle in the last game of the 2007-08 season, according to Reuters' game file, which this desk read in full.
For a half, the night belonged to Pascal Siakam. Indiana led 31-26 after one quarter, and Siakam piloted a 13-0 run after Irving had briefly put Dallas in front in the second. When Siakam buried his fifth three-pointer, the Pacers' lead reached 63-50, and he had 25 points on perfect shooting at that moment — eight of eight from the field, five of five from three and four of four at the line. He finished with 29 points, 26 of them in the first half, plus nine rebounds and eight assists. Aaron Nesmith added 18 points and Ivica Zubac 16 for Indiana, which led the game for long stretches and still lost the fourth quarter 35-29 as Flagg poured in 14 third-quarter points on six-of-six shooting and then opened the fourth with a game-tying three.
The last minute was a possession-by-possession fight. Two Irving free throws put Dallas up 125-122 with 18 seconds left. Nesmith missed a three-pointer, P.J. Washington rebounded and was fouled, and then missed both of his free throws, giving Indiana one last chance with 3.7 seconds remaining. Andrew Nembhard's inbound pass was stolen by Caleb Martin in a heavy mid-air collision with Siakam, and the officials did not blow a whistle. IndyStar reported that Pacers coach Rick Carlisle objected angrily to the no-call; this desk reports the objection as his, and the result as final. Dallas improved to 7-4 with its second win in two nights and swept the two-game season series, while Indiana fell to 3-8 with a second straight loss.
