Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks manage to steal Sacramento

Still looking to win in 2026 Kings he received Mavericks of Cooper Flagg who were going out win against Houston. DeMar DeRozan (21 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) opened the scoring with a game-winning shot against Anthony Davis (19 points, 16 rebounds) and Sacramento quickly increased the deficit. The lead that reached ten units after the game-winning basket from Keon Ellis ending with a score of 9-0 in favor of the home team (30-20).

After twelve minutes of play, Sacramento leads 35-25, and the first minutes of the second act mark the awakening of Cooper Flagg (20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists). Despite not scoring a single point in the first quarter, the 2025 No. 1 pick capped a 7-0 run with a long-range shot to put Dallas back within one (35-32).

A few minutes later, Russell Westbrook (11 points, 6 rebounds, 4/15 shooting) stands out in his own way. The leader is the victim of a foul by Anthony Davis and if he makes the first free throw, the second turns into an “air ball”. However, the Brodies used an interception by Keon Ellis to score on the counterattack. Later, the 2017 MVP finds Maquime Raynaud (14 points, 9 rebounds) for a ten-point Kings lead (50-40), forcing Jason Kidd to take a timeout. At the end of that, Daniel Gafford rate a thousand, Precious Achiuva grabs the rebound and the former Knicks goes all the way to dunk Cooper Flagg.

It carries the Cooper Flag

Thus, despite the second quarter, where they scored 0/7 from distance, the Kings are still in the lead when they return to the locker room (58-46). The third quarter started like the second, with Cooper Flagg’s game-winning shot. The winger is giving everything to get his team back into the match. He launches 9-0 in favor of the Texans who Klay Thompson finishes with the winning shot. If Maxime Raynaud answers, Brandon Williams scores 2+1 to tie the two teams. However, the advantage remains for Sacramento thanks to the “laying” of Dennis Schroder while Klay Thompson’s 3-point attempt was blocked by Keon Ellis (78-76).

To start the final act, Cooper Flagg brings the two teams back to a tie with four minutes left to play Find Marshall returns the advantage to Dallas, which has not happened since the first quarter (88-87), but it does not last. Dennis Schroeder puts the Kings back in front as he Zach LaVine takes advantage of another Texans turnover to dunk on the other side of the court.

Except that Dallas continues to cling to the image of this beautiful defense of Najib Marshall on DeMar DeRozan, while in the attack Brandon Williams returns a shot from the middle distance and restores the advantage to the Mavericks (95-93).

DeMar DeRozan responds with a game-winning basket before hitting a midrange shot. With the Kings up by one point with a minute left, Cooper Flagg finds Brandon Williams for a 3-pointer. Although they have a chance to grab overtime, Doug Christie’s men prefer to shoot 3-pointers. Dennis Schroeder’s first attempt misses the mark completely, while Russell Westbrook’s second attempt falls well short.

Despite 0/2 free throws from Najib Marshall, Dallas still managed to win 100-98 for its second straight before challenging the Jazz on Thursday.

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– Cooper Flagg, the hero of the night. After a first quarter in which he scored no points despite dishing out four assists, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft carried his team for the next three periods. From the start of the second act, he made it 7-0 and put his team back in the match. In the third act, the winger starts a new “run” so that the Texans can regroup, and he also weighs in the last minute of the game. First he makes a basket to give Dallas the lead and if DeMar DeRozan answers him, the rookie doesn’t panic. He was able to find the right pass to Brandon Williams who threw the game-winning shot that gave the Texans the victory. In 35 minutes of play, the former duke finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

– Naji Marshall and Brandon Williams to kill the game. Behind Cooper Flagg was the duo of Naji Marshall – Brandon Williams. The former comes out of his frame in the final act where he scores nine of his fifteen points, but he is present both on the rebound and on defense like this good pressure on DeMar DeRozan that led to a missed shot. In the process, Brandon Williams managed a mid-range shot against Maxime Reynaud while keeping his wrist from shaking as he was served up by Cooper Flagg for a long-range shot that gave the Mavericks the win.

– The Kings are still looking for a win in 2026. Sacramento has not won a game since the start of the calendar year and is suffering its sixth straight loss. That should be attributed to the address that was not as far away as this September 31, but also to the questionable choices at the end of the match. Although trailing by just two points, the Kings continued to shoot 3-pointers despite their clumsiness. They went 0/3 in just 22 seconds and ended up losing while being up 12 points.

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How to read statistics? Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / 3 points in an attempt; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive jump; T = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Difference of points when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Rating: player rating calculated based on positive actions – negative actions.