Cooper Flagg saved his best for the second half. The 19-year-old scored 30 of his season-high 43 points after halftime on Monday night, and the Dallas Mavericks rallied from 13 points down to beat the Indiana Pacers 125-122 at American Airlines Center.
Flagg made 16 of his 25 shots, hit all eight of his free throws, and filled the rest of his line with 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Kyrie Irving added 35 points, and the two stars combined for 78 of Dallas’s 125 points.
A first half that belonged to Siakam
For a long stretch, this looked like Indiana’s night. Pascal Siakam scored 26 of his 29 points in the first half, and the Pacers built a 13-point lead on the road. Siakam also finished with nine rebounds and eight assists, but his scoring dried up after the break as Dallas chased the game down possession by possession.
The Mavericks were playing the second night of a back-to-back, and it showed early. Flagg flashed his talent in the first quarter with back-to-back dunks that capped an 11-0 run, yet Dallas still spent most of the night playing from behind against a Pacers team that has struggled to close games all season.
The fourth quarter turned into a two-man game
The turnaround started well before the fourth quarter. Flagg had just 13 points at halftime, and 30 of his 43 came after the break. Indiana saw two different players in the same game: a good young forward feeling his way through the first half, and a star who simply took the second half over.
The comeback landed in the final period, and it ran through two players. Flagg and Irving combined for 26 points in the fourth quarter, including the first 13 points Dallas scored in the quarter, and the Mavericks outscored Indiana 35-29 over the last 12 minutes. Irving did much of his damage from deep, making seven of his ten three-point shots.
The ending still had drama. Irving’s two free throws put Dallas ahead 125-122 with 18 seconds left. Indiana got one more chance when P.J. Washington missed two free throws with four seconds remaining and Obi Toppin grabbed the rebound, but the Pacers ran out of time before they could answer.
A stat line only one teenager had ever matched
The bigger story is where the night puts Flagg in the record book. At 19, he became only the second teenager in NBA history to record at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a single game. The first was Kevin Durant, who did it for the Seattle SuperSonics in the final game of the 2007-08 season.
It was Flagg’s first 40-point game of this season and the fifth of his young career, and it came with his fourth straight double-double. According to ESPN’s count, it was also his 14th game with at least 30 points before his 20th birthday. Nights like this are quickly becoming his normal.
What the win says about both teams
Dallas (7-4) has won three straight games and swept its three-game homestand, moving three games over .500 for the first time since March 1, 2025. The Mavericks drafted Flagg with the first overall pick in 2025 hoping for nights exactly like this one, and he is delivering them ahead of schedule. With Flagg playing like a franchise star and Irving matching his season best, Dallas is starting to look like a team climbing the Western Conference instead of just surviving it.
Indiana (3-8) took its second straight loss, and this one will sting. A 13-point road lead and a huge first half from Siakam were still not enough once a teenager decided to take the game over. Follow every score the rest of the season in our Sports coverage.
Sources: Reuters game recap; Associated Press recap via theScore and Sportsnet; USA Today; IndyStar; sportradar box score.