The first half asked Cooper Flagg to wait. The third quarter asked him to decide the night.
Flagg put up 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists Friday night, and Dallas closed a 112-100 Emirates NBA Cup group win over Utah at American Airlines Center. ESPN's box matches that line and adds three steals, one block and a plus-17 in 33 minutes on 7-of-16 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 night at the free-throw line.
The Associated Press credited him with 17 points after intermission. His scoring was quiet before the break, though he still grabbed six rebounds and dealt six assists in that half.
Dallas improved to 5-4 and 2-0 in Cup play. Utah fell to 1-8 and has lost seven straight, per the AP.
Stuck at 70, then gone
Midway through the third the game was still knotted at 70, the Mavericks' site wrote. Flagg and Kyrie Irving had combined for just six points on 3-of-17 shooting before the break. Then they led a 9-0 blitz that grew into a longer surge, and Dallas never let the lead fall under 10 in the fourth, according to the club recap.
Per the AP, Dallas ripped off a 22-10 stretch late in the third that turned a one-point hole into an 81-70 cushion, Flagg pouring in 13 of those points and Irving eight. Irving ended with 14 points and three steals after a 1-for-11 start.
Effort first, then the switch
Coach Dusty May credited the half that kept Dallas close before the stars heated up. "In the first half, when we weren't making shots and things weren't going necessarily well, the effort plays, the second shots, those allowed us to hang on and we didn't have to dig ourselves out of a hole in the second half," May said on the team's site. P.J.
Washington's 22 first-half points and Morez Johnson Jr.'s glass work bought that time.
Flagg framed the second-half jump as patience plus defense. "Staying the course," he said. "Shots will fall.
