Mavericks vs. Rockets: Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg Hand Houston Its First Loss in 116-111 Win

Kevin Durant stepped to the free throw line with 1:53 left, his team down two and a chance to tie a game Houston had led for much of the night. The AP lists him as a career 88% shooter from the stripe. He missed the first. He missed the second. And Cooper Flagg made sure the gift came with interest, driving for a floater on the next trip, taking the contact and finishing the three-point play.

Kyrie Irving poured in 35, Flagg chipped in 33, and the Dallas Mavericks came from behind to beat the Houston Rockets 116-111 on Friday night at American Airlines Center. The NBA Cup opener left Houston with a loss for the first time this season. The Rockets came in perfect. They left with a stack of missed free throws to think about on the trip home.

Houston Grabs Control

Flagg came out firing, hitting turnarounds, pull-ups and short buckets in the opening minutes, and Dallas took a 27-20 lead after one quarter with its bench closing the period strong. Then Houston flipped the game in the second. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 10 of his 22 points in the quarter, per the AP, an 8-0 Rockets run late in the period turned a 38-36 deficit into a 44-38 lead, and Houston won the frame 31-17 to take a 51-44 lead into the break.

The third quarter belonged to Durant. Irving scored Dallas' first three baskets of the second half, two of them 3s from 25 feet, but Durant kept answering with pull-up jumpers, and his driving dunk midway through the quarter pushed Houston's lead to double digits for the first time. NBA.com's live coverage captured Rockets broadcaster Ryan Hollins losing his mind on the play: "Oh my goodness, Mr. Durant!" Not bad for a guy NBA.com described as being in Year 20. Houston pushed the lead to 11 at its peak and carried an 84-76 advantage into the fourth.

The Kyrie and Cooper Show

Dallas outscored Houston 40-27 in the fourth quarter, and the comeback was a two-man production. Irving got it started with a pair of short buckets and then went full Kyrie, splashing a 29-foot running pull-up that made it 86-85. A Caleb Martin 3 tied it at 88, and Irving's 28-footer moments later gave the Mavericks their first lead since late in the second quarter.

From there it was a slugfest. Fred VanVleet's 3 tied it at 96 with 4:21 left. Flagg answered with a floater and a 7-footer that counted on a goaltending call. Durant hit two free throws, VanVleet tied it again at 100 with a floater, and then Irving pulled up from 16 feet with 2:08 left for a 102-100 lead that Dallas never gave back.

Two Pairs of Misses

This is where Houston lost it. Durant's two misses at 1:53 were followed by Flagg's three-point play, and suddenly a possible tie was a 105-100 deficit. The Rockets kept fighting. Durant answered with a 17-footer, and after a Gafford basket he added a free throw and a 16-footer with a minute left to cut it to 107-105.

Then P.J. Washington's errant pass landed right in Amen Thompson's hands, gifting Houston a possession with a chance to tie. Thompson was fouled with 42 seconds left and, per the AP, missed both free throws too. Flagg punished that one as well, burying a 13-foot turnaround with 24.3 seconds left for a 109-105 lead.

Smith's 3 with 15.8 seconds left made it a one-point game, but Daniel Gafford calmly sank two free throws with 11 seconds left. Holding a three-point cushion in the final 10 seconds, Dallas chose to foul rather than risk a tying 3, twice, and Irving went 4 for 4 at the line on the trips that followed.

Two Stars, One Ending

Irving's night was vintage. He went 12 of 19 from the field, 5 of 8 from 3-point range and 6 of 6 at the line, with nine assists and four rebounds, and 26 of his 35 points came after halftime, per the AP. Going 6 for 6 pushed his run of consecutive made free throws to 54, the longest active streak in the NBA, according to the AP. It dates to before the torn ACL in his left knee that cost him 19 months. In a game decided at the stripe, Dallas had the one guy who apparently does not miss there.

Flagg, the reigning Kia Rookie of the Year per NBA.com, was relentless. He shot 13 of 19, did all of his damage inside the arc after going 0 for 4 from deep, and added nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in 39 minutes. Every time Houston blinked late, he scored. That is not a teenager's trait. That is a closer's trait.

Gafford was the quiet third star with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and Zaccharie Risacher gave Dallas 12 points and three steals off the bench.

Durant led Houston with 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting, but he was 9 of 13 at the line, and the two he missed with 1:53 left will sting. Smith scored 22, VanVleet had 16 on 6-of-17 shooting, Thompson added 15 points, six assists and four steals, and Tari Eason grabbed 13 rebounds, eight of them offensive.

The Numbers That Swung It

• 24 of 33: Houston's free throw shooting. The Rockets left nine points at the line in a five-point loss.
• 28-10: Fast-break points, Dallas.
• 40-27: The Mavericks' fourth-quarter scoring edge.
• 20-12: Offensive rebounds in Houston's favor, which kept the Rockets alive on a 42% shooting night.
• 7 of 29: Houston from 3-point range.

Perfect No More

The Rockets fall to 5-1 overall and 3-1 on the road, and their loss left idle Memphis (5-0) as the NBA's only unbeaten team, according to the AP. Houston's process was mostly fine: it owned the glass, forced turnovers and led for long stretches. Its execution in the final two minutes was not. The Rockets get a chance to bounce back at home against Oklahoma City on Saturday night.

Dallas improves to 4-2 overall and 2-1 at home. The Irving and Flagg partnership is still new, but nights like this show why it works: Irving can bend a defense from 29 feet, and Flagg can bully his way to the rim when the defense overreacts. The Mavericks host Sacramento on Monday night.

Nothing Free About It

Free throws are supposed to be the easy part. Houston missed two pairs of them in the final two minutes and lost by five. Irving, meanwhile, has not missed one in 54 tries. Sometimes basketball is complicated. Friday night in Dallas, it was not.

Stats from the official box score and play-by-play via ESPN. Late-game details and streak figures as reported by the Associated Press; additional notes from NBA.com.