Twice in the final two minutes Friday night, Houston walked to the free-throw line with a chance to tie and came away with nothing. Both times, Cooper Flagg went to the other end and scored.
The second-year forward finished with 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting, plus nine rebounds, six assists and two steals, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the previously unbeaten Rockets 116-111 in the NBA Cup opener for both teams at American Airlines Center.
Two misses, two answers
Dallas led by two with 1:53 to play when Kevin Durant, who has made 88% of his free throws over his career, missed both of his attempts. Flagg scored on the next trip. With 42 seconds left, after a P.J.
Washington pass went straight to Amen Thompson, Thompson also missed twice, and Flagg scored again. One of those two baskets was a three-point play, according to The Associated Press.
Flagg did his work almost entirely inside the arc. He missed all four of his 3-point tries but went 7 of 10 at the line and kept attacking a Houston frontcourt playing without injured big men Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams.
"Just being confident, getting to my spots and living with the results," Flagg said afterward on the team's website. He spread the credit to Zaccharie Risacher, Washington and Daniel Gafford, calling them "stars in their roles."
A rough second quarter erased
The win did not come easily. Dallas shot 5 of 19 in the second quarter, lost the rebounding battle 16-8 in that stretch and trailed 51-44 at the break. The Mavericks flipped it after halftime and outscored Houston 40-27 in the fourth, with Kyrie Irving finishing with 35 points.
