After leading for the entire first half on Thursday, the Dallas Mavericks (21-41) pulled a 115-114 defeat from the teeth of victory against the Orlando Magic (33-28) at Kia Center.

But proclaim the good news of the day from the hilltops, Mavericks fans, for Cooper Flagg is back. Basketball joy is once again an option.

Flagg scored 18points in his return, as a little rust showed in his shooting touch, but nowhere else in his all-around game. He dished six assists and blocked a new career-high four shots along the way in the loss. Klay Thompson led the Mavs with 24 on seven made 3-pointers, while Tristan da Silva led the Magic with 19 points off the bench in the win.

Flagg is back in a big way

Flagg started making plays for the Mavericks from the tip after missing the team’s last eight games, dating to before the NBA All-Star break. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd told reporters before the game that Flagg would play 20-25 minutes in his first game back.

He made a clever kick-out pass to a wide open Khris Middleton in the left corner for Dallas’ first score of the game just 30 seconds in. His second assist went to Max Christie just a minute later as the Mavs’ first two buckets came from 3-point range. Flagg scored his first basket of the game on the offensive boards, skying for his first rebound and putting it right back in to give the Mavericks an early 8-4 lead and force a timeout from Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley.

Flagg drove through the lane with 7:40 left in the first quarter and forced the officials to whistle Magic forward Wendell Carter Jr. for his second foul less than five minutes into the game, converting both free throws to put the Mavericks ahead 12-7. He had four points in five minutes before being summoned to the bench for his first rest. Even though he didn’t come back into the game until the second quarter, his play to start the game set the tone for one of the best first quarters the Mavericks have played in months, leading Orlando 33-26 after one.

Flagg drove for a leaning hook early in the second to give the Mavericks a 40-28 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter, then blocked an attempt from the taller Mo Wagner on the other end of the floor on defense. He came back in with 3:30 left in the first half and drove with his left for another score on his first possession back on the floor, before finding Daniel Gafford on a pretty lob pass for a dunk the next time down. Flagg drove past Goga Bitadze a minute later for another physical bucket in the lane to give him 10 points in 13 minutes before the break.

His first night back on the court since Feb. 10 may not have been one of his best shooting nights, but all other signs pointed in the right direction for the rookie superstar. He was decisive in getting to the basket. He made plays on both ends of the floor. Even though Flagg made just 7-of-22 from the field, he filled up the stat sheet and affected the game every minute he was on the floor. He canned his first 3-pointer in four attempts with nine minutes left in the third quarter, on a wide open look from the top of the key on a ball reversal from Middleton.

After missing an 18-foot jumpshot just a minute later, he jumped a bad pass from Paolo Banchero, intercepted it and threw it down for his 14th and 15th points of the game. Flagg took a tumble early in the fourth when Bitadze challenged his high-flying dunk attempt. He fell hard, but the middle finger on his dunking hand may have taken the worst of the collision. He skied for his second blocked shot of the game on a driving attempt by Desmond Bane two possessions later.

Dallas shot 6-of-12 from 3-point range in the first quarter at Orlando, a far cry from that 3-for-22 stinker the Mavs laid on Tuesday in Charlotte. Christie canned his first two looks from deep in the first quarter, and Klay Thompson came in off the bench firing nukes as well, hitting three of his first five in just his first seven minutes on the floor. Even P.J. Washington got into the act, sinking 2-of-3 in the first half.

The Mavs had managed just 21-of-85 (24.7%) shooting from 3-point territory in their last three games coming into Thursday. They made four of their first five against the Magic before settling into an 8-of-19 (42.1%) first half in Orlando.

Thompson hit 2-of-3 from deep in the third quarter as the Mavericks tried to battle back in the midst of Orlando’s 24-7 run, and he was fouled on another 3-point attempt, bringing Dallas to within 91-88 late in the third. Thursday was Thompson’s 200th career game of five or more made 3-pointers. He racked up 18 points going into the fourth and finished with a game-high 24 in the loss.

The Mavericks led for two and a half quarters, running the lead up to 14 at one point in the second quarter, but that lead fizzled almost completely before halftime as Orlando slowly woke up. The Magic took their first lead of the game midway through the third on Jalen Suggs’ second 3-pointer of the contest, a wide open look from the right wing.

The Mavericks turned the ball over five times in the first six minutes of the third (six total in the frame), including a pair from Flagg on back-to-back possessions. He’s still a rookie, after all. Dallas shot just 5-of-15 from the field in the first nine minutes of the frame. The walls started to cave in.

After Carter nailed his first 3-ball of the game a minute later to give the Magic a 78-75 lead, Suggs nailed a pull-up 3-pointer from the corner and was fouled by Ryan Nembhard in the process, completing the four-point play to extend Orlando’s lead to 82-75. All of a sudden, poof, the Magic were on a 17-5 run, as Suggs waved his wand. He would finish with 17 points.

Orlando turned the tables on the Mavs in the third and took a 91-88 lead into the fourth quarter.

Frantic comeback comes up just short

Dallas made it interesting down the stretch, creeping back to within one point late after Orlando extended its lead to 10 early in the fourth, but comebacks just don’t happen with this bunch, do they?

Bane ended a scoreless stretch of 3:20 for the Magic with a nifty drive under the block attempt by Gafford with 3:15 left to play to put Orlando up 105-102. It was Dallas’ 39th clutch game of the season.

Thompson hit his seventh 3-ball of the game on the next Mavs’ possession on Flagg’s sixth assist, to tie it at 105-105. Middleton hit a tough leaner over Bane with 2:10 left to put the Mavericks back in front, but Tristan da Silva answered on the other end. Middleton answered the answer with 1:45 left to give him 19 points for the game, but da Silva nailed a teardrop to give the Magic a 110-109 advantage.

Gafford somehow hooked home a prayer late in the shot clock to see-saw Dallas back in front the next time down, and that’s when Flagg made what looked like at the time was the play of the game. He flew into contact provided by Carter for a third time in the game, sank the driving attempt on the way down, and completed the three-point play to put the Mavs up 114-110. He blocked Carter’s attempt on the other end on Orlando’s prior possession for his fourth block of the game.

But Suggs hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game, and Carter put home a dunk with 1.4 seconds remaining to finally shut the door on the Dallas comeback.