Dallas Mavericks guard Cooper Flagg (32) tangles with San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, April 10, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Darren Abate/AP
SAN ANTONIO — Hopes were high in October when the Mavericks kicked off the 2025-26 season against the San Antonio Spurs.
With a clean slate to compete, the Mavericks officially began the Cooper Flagg era, hoping to make a return to the Western Conference’s elite. However, reality quickly set in and Victor Wembanyama offered a glimpse of what would become a season worthy of two major awards, which he officially qualified for in Friday’s game against the Mavericks.
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Since then, the Dallas has snowballed toward the bottom of the NBA’s standings, while the Spurs returned to contender status.
From the first meeting to the fourth, three things are certain. The Spurs and Mavericks are in different stratospheres. Wembanyama remains dominant. And Flagg is already on a trajectory toward becoming one of the NBA’s next superstars.
All of those elements were evident in the Mavericks’ 139-120 loss to the Spurs at Frost Bank Center, which was a classic battle of No. 1 picks.
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With the loss, Dallas finishes the season with a 10-30 road record. The team is slightly better at American Airlines Center with a 15-25 home record. The Mavericks will conclude another losing season Sunday against the Chicago Bulls.
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Flagg played through a left wrist sprain for the second consecutive game, but you couldn’t tell he was hindered in the way he was during Wednesday’s loss in Phoenix. The Mavericks rookie resumed his impressive display of scoring with 33 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead his severely depleted team. It was his 11th 30-point game of the season and sixth time scoring as much with five rebounds and five assists.
The player Flagg was in his NBA debut against the Spurs is far from the player he’s become after 81 games into his historic rookie season.
“I think I just improved in a lot of different areas,” Flagg said. “I’m comfortable doing a lot of different things, adjusting to the pace, being able to get to my spots and not let the defense dictate what they want me to do. I’ve felt more comfortable and confident facing all types of different defenses.”
Flagg was decisive and aggressive, similar to that of his recent big-time scoring performances of 51 and 45 points from last weekend. The poise and confidence displayed was the opposite of his debut that resulted in a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in his first game playing point guard in the NBA.
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It was apparent that Flagg was headed toward another big scoring night when he reached the 22-point mark four minutes into the second quarter. With Luke Kornet closely defending him, Flagg drained a stepback midrange jumper as he was fouled by the Spurs big man. Shortly after, he drained his third 3-pointer of the night to finish with 25 points in the first half. Friday marked the fourth time he’s reached 25 points in one half, tying Damian Lillard and Blake Griffin for the most 25-point halves by a rookie in the play-by-play era (1997-98).
Despite Wembanyama’s lengthy frame, Flagg challenged the defensive specialist on several occasions. For his first score of the game, Flagg scored a acrobatic layup over the 7-4 center by using the rim as a shield. In the second quarter, Flagg attacked the paint again and threw up a left-handed floater over that barely missed Wembanyama’s fingertips before dropping through the basket.
Flagg was by far the best player on the Mavericks, but the title of best player on the court still belonged to the French phenom. Wembanyama returned from a one-game absence caused by a left rib contusion and looked like the dominant force who scored 40 points with 15 rebounds in the season opener. He finished with a near-duplicate performance of 40 points, 13 rebounds and five rebounds, while making several eye-popping plays that shouldn’t be associated with anyone his height.
On the opening possession of the game, Wembanyama was guarded by Ryan Nembhard, who’s 5-9, and Marvin Bagley III came over to help. Wembanyama muscled through both players, stepped through and had a clear path for his first dunk.
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Late in the first quarter, Wembanyama led a one-man fast break with John Poulakidas, who’s 6-6, as the only player preventing him from getting to the rim. The lanky Spurs big man began his gather just inside the free throw circle, jumped from the dotted line of the paint and threw down a one-handed slam as if he was dunking on a Nerf hoop.
Plays like this are what makes Wembanyama so physically imposing and difficult for even the best defenders in the NBA to guard.
“It’s very difficult,” Flagg said. “He’s something different that you don’t see every day. When he’s knocking down shots and getting to his spots, he’s tough to stop.”
By playing at least 20 minutes, Wembanyama officially fulfilled the 65-game requirements and qualified for end of the season awards such as MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
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Friday marked Flagg’s 69th game of the season, but first-year players don’t have a minimum games limit for Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie honors.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson has two rookies he’s proud of, Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant, but he offered an opinion on the Rookie of the Year race, which is heavily favored by Flagg and Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel.
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“I think it’s been a heck of a race,” Johnson said. “I can’t remember a class that has put the level of production up in this class, and those two guys are obviously at the forefront. What Cooper has done recently, you can tell he’s trying to put an exclamation on his season… Those two guys are having hecks of seasons, and I’m glad I don’t have a vote.”
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Flagg has one chance to win the Rookie of the Year award, but there could be plenty of opportunities to join Wembanyama in the MVP discussion if his game develops at its current rate. With Flagg established as the player Dallas will build around for many years to come and Wembanyama positioned as one of the best players in the NBA, perhaps the next iteration of a Mavs-Spurs rivalry is brewing.
“I think it would be cool,” Flagg said. “We’re looking to the future for us and to next season and getting a lot better and improving. Hopefully we’ll get a lot more wins next year. Just looking into the future, hopefully we can come back next year and compete.”