DALLAS — In his first week in the NBA, Cooper Flagg experienced something unfamiliar: a losing streak.
The Dallas Mavericks dropped their season opener to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. Two nights later, they lost again to the Washington Wizards.
In Flagg’s one-and-done season at Duke, the Blue Devils went 35-4. The year before that, Flagg led Montverde Academy to a 34-0 record in his final year of high school.
Sunday, Flagg got back to his winning ways, as the Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors 139-129 at American Airlines Center. Flagg scored 22 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished four assists as Dallas’ offense showed signs of life after two poor showings to begin the season.
“Feels great,” Flagg said about earning his first win as an NBA player. “Got our first win tonight at home. That’s big for us. We want to build off tonight and use it as a baseline and keep building.”
The Mavericks trailed the Raptors by 2 points at halftime. Dallas had 12 turnovers at the break, with its ball-security issues from the San Antonio and Washington games persisting.
In the third quarter, Dallas took control of the game by ramping up its defensive intensity and out-running Toronto in transition. Dallas closed the quarter on a 21-6 run. The highlight of that decisive stretch was Flagg’s poster dunk over Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Cooper Flagg is a lot of fun on the break pic.twitter.com/iXXNUaYvzq
— Christian Clark (@christianpclark) October 27, 2025
Mavericks guard D’Angelo Russell threw the ball ahead to a streaking Flagg, who needed only one dribble from half court to get close enough to the rim to dunk. Flagg celebrated his and-1 by chest-bumping Anthony Davis.
“It was unbelievable,” Russell said. “He does a little bit of everything. When he’s getting the crowd going like that, the team feeds on that. When he’s performing like that, it’s contagious.”
Russell played an important role in the win as well. He missed his first seven shots yet still managed to score 24 points, collect five rebounds and hand out six assists. The Mavericks outscored the Raptors by 26 points with him on the floor. He played 29 minutes, which was five more than he played in the first two games of the season combined.
“Coaches’ experiment,” Russell said. “Just trying to be ready. You never know when your number is going to be called. But if you get distracted, you won’t be ready. So just stay ready.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd continued to use a starting lineup without a traditional point guard. Flagg started next to Davis, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II for a third consecutive game. It doesn’t sound as though Kidd plans to deviate from that starting lineup anytime soon. However, he did make a significant change by getting Russell into the game for longer stretches.
“That was D-Lo,” Flagg said. “He showed up in a big way. Came out. Soon as he got in there, just had a high impact on the game — drew fouls, scoring, running the offense, getting us set up, organized. That was big for him. Just coming through and being that vet.”
The Mavericks have a 1-2 record. Two games remain on their homestand. Flagg will get another chance to win in front of the American Airlines Center crowd Monday, when the Mavericks host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
“The fans have showed up for the first three games,” Flagg said. “I thought tonight was really the first time we gave them something to be excited for and be on their feet for. That was really good. A great step for us moving forward.”