Cooper Flagg scores 43 as Mavericks outlast Pacers

Cooper Flagg scored 43 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out 6 assists and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Indiana Pacers 125-122 on Monday night, ESPN reported. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

The Mavericks improved to 7-4. The Pacers fell to 3-8 and have lost five of six. The game was played at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Flagg is the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and 43 points is a career high. He is the first rookie since LeBron James in 2004 to record a 40-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist game. He did it in 38 minutes and shot 15 of 24 from the field.

The Mavericks acquired Flagg after one of the strangest draft lotteries in NBA history. Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February 2026 in a deal that sent Anthony Davis to Dallas, then Davis was flipped to Washington at the deadline for picks and cap relief. The Mavericks fell out of the playoffs, entered the lottery with the eighth-best odds, and jumped to the first pick. They took Flagg, the 6-foot-9 forward from Duke who had been the consensus top prospect since his junior year of high school.

He has been everything the Mavericks hoped. He is averaging 22.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists through 11 games. He shoots 48% from the field and 37% from three. He has scored 30 or more four times. The Mavericks were 2-4 when he was scoring under 20; they are 5-0 when he tops 25.

Monday’s game was close throughout. The Pacers led 31-26 after one quarter and 65-56 at halftime. Flagg scored 18 in the third quarter on 7-of-9 shooting, and the Mavericks took their first lead with two minutes left in the period. The fourth quarter was a trade of baskets, and Flagg hit a step-back three over Obi Toppin with 48 seconds left to put Dallas up 123-119. Siakam answered with a three, but Daniel Gafford dunked on the next possession to seal it.

Siakam has been the Pacers’ best player since they acquired him from Toronto at the 2024 deadline. He is averaging 21.3 points and 7.8 rebounds, and he carried Indiana back into the game in the fourth quarter with 11 points in the final period. But the Pacers could not get a stop when they needed one. They have allowed 120 or more points in six straight games, the worst defensive stretch in the league this season.

The Pacers’ defense is the problem Indiana has been unable to solve. They ranked 27th in defensive rating last season and are 28th this year. Coach Rick Carlisle has tried zone, man-to-man and switching, and none of it has worked. The roster is built around Tyrese Haliburton’s playmaking and Siakam’s scoring, but the wing defenders are not good enough. Aaron Nembhard, the team’s best perimeter defender, has missed the last four games with a sprained ankle.

Haliburton had 18 points and 12 assists on Monday but shot 7 of 18 from the field. He is averaging 16.8 points on 39% shooting, down from 20.1 on 47% last season. The ankle injury he suffered in the playoffs last spring has lingered, and he has not looked like the player who made the All-NBA First Team in 2024. The Pacers built their offense around him, and if he is not creating efficient shots, the offense stalls.

The Mavericks’ offense runs through Flagg the way it once ran through Doncic. Coach Jason Kidd has given him the ball in pick-and-roll 12 times per game, the most on the team, and Flagg has been efficient in those situations. He reads the defense, makes the right pass, and scores when the defense cheats. He is not Doncic as a shooter or a playmaker, but he is a better defender and a more explosive athlete. The Mavericks have a net rating of plus-8.3 with Flagg on the floor and minus-2.1 with him off.

Kidd has started Flagg, Gafford, Klay Thompson, Spencer Dinwiddie and Naji Marshall. Thompson, the 35-year-old veteran the Mavericks signed in free agency, has been a disappointment. He is averaging 8.2 points on 36% shooting and has lost his starting job twice already this season. The Mavericks need shooting around Flagg, and Thompson was supposed to provide it. He has not.

The Western Conference is bunched at the top. The Warriors are 8-3 after blowing out the Pelicans 138-87 on Monday. The Spurs are 9-2 after Victor Wembanyama’s 40-point, 11-rebound, 9-block performance against the Suns. The Rockets are 8-3. The Mavericks are 7-4, and they have the easiest remaining schedule of the group, according to NBA standings. They play the Pelicans, Wizards and Trail Blazers in their next three, all teams with losing records.

What I think

Cooper Flagg is the best rookie I have seen since Victor Wembanyama, and he might be better. Wembanyama is a defensive force who scores in a variety of ways. Flagg is an offensive engine who can guard four positions. The Mavericks traded away a generational talent in Doncic and may have replaced him with another one. That does not happen. The draft lottery gave them a gift, and they did not waste it.

The Pacers are a mess. Haliburton is hurt, the defense is broken, and Carlisle is running out of solutions. They were a conference finalist two years ago and now they are 3-8. The offseason moves they made to shore up the defense have not worked, and the trade deadline is two months away. They need Nembhard back, they need Haliburton healthy, and they need someone who can guard. Right now they have none of those things.