Dallas didn't need a hot shooting night to beat Utah. The Mavericks controlled the glass, punished turnovers and found their second-half spark in Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving to defeat the Jazz 112–100 on Friday, 6 November (US time), moving to 2–0 in NBA Cup group play. P.J. Washington led Dallas with 26 points, while Flagg supplied 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. The NBA's official game recap confirms the result and Cup records.
For much of the first half, Washington was the offence Dallas could rely on. He scored 22 of his 26 before the break, hitting five three-pointers as the teams reached half-time tied at 57. Flagg had only four points at that stage and Irving just two, with the veteran guard opening 1-of-11 from the field. It wasn't a convincing scoring start from Dallas's marquee creators, but Washington kept the contest level long enough for them to find their rhythm. The Associated Press match report details how the scoring responsibilities shifted after the interval.
The third quarter changed everything. Dallas won it 32–19, with Flagg scoring 13 points and Irving eight during a 22–10 burst that turned a one-point deficit into an 81–70 advantage. Flagg finished with 17 second-half points; Irving scored 12 of his 14 after the break. That's a much more useful picture of the Mavericks' attack than simply looking at their final individual totals: Washington carried the early scoring load, then Dallas's primary ball-handlers took over the decisive stretch.
There was another story underneath those points. Dallas dominated the rebounding battle and generated second chances, while Utah committed 21 turnovers. Rookie Morez Johnson Jr. contributed 13 points and 17 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass, giving Dallas an extra-possession weapon even when its outside shooting wasn't especially sharp. The Mavericks' reserves outscored Utah's 44–19, and their 20–5 advantage in second-chance points made the difference in effort and opportunity hard to miss. Those numbers are also recorded in the Reuters/Field Level Media game report.
Utah actually made more three-pointers than Dallas, with Lauri Markkanen scoring 24 points entirely from eight triples. Rookie Darryn Peterson added 21. Yet the Jazz couldn't turn that perimeter success into a win: Dallas's offensive rebounding, turnover pressure and bench contribution repeatedly gave the home side more ways to score. Washington's sixth three-pointer helped keep the margin in double figures during the final period, after Dallas had built a 13-point lead through three quarters.
The win takes Dallas to 5–4 overall and keeps its NBA Cup start perfect through two group games. Utah, meanwhile, falls to 1–8 after a seventh consecutive defeat. For the Mavericks, the encouraging part isn't merely that Flagg and Irving recovered from slow starts. It's that Washington and Johnson gave them a platform to survive those starts, then the team's extra possessions allowed its better-known scorers to finish the job. That's a more balanced route to winning than hoping one star catches fire every night.
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