Cooper Flagg Joined Kevin Durant in the Teen Record Book — and Dallas Needed Every Point

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2026 · DALLAS, TEXAS

Dallas trailed Indiana by 13 late in the first half, gave up 66 points before the break, and still won. Cooper Flagg scored a season-high 43 points with 10 rebounds and six assists, Kyrie Irving added 35, and the Mavericks beat the Pacers 125-122 on Monday night at American Airlines Center — a comeback that put a 19-year-old in a two-man room in NBA history and gave Dallas its third straight win.

Flagg, 19, became the second teenager ever to post a 40-point, 10-rebound, five-assist game, according to the NBA — Kevin Durant, for the Seattle SuperSonics in the last game of the 2007-08 season, is the only other one. It was the fifth 40-point game of Flagg’s young career — the most any teenager has ever posted — and his seventh 35-point game tied LeBron James’s teenage record. It was also his 14th game of 30 or more before turning 20; only James, with 20, has more. The 43 is a season high, not a career one: his mark remains the 51 he scored against Orlando last spring, the most points a teenager has ever scored in an NBA game. “Thank goodness he’s on our team,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said. “It’s unbelievable that he’s a 19-year-old doing this.”

The first half belonged to Siakam

Indiana (3-8) ran the first half. Pascal Siakam scored 26 of his 29 points before halftime, finishing with nine rebounds and eight assists, and the Pacers built a 13-point lead — the biggest of the game — on their way to a 66-56 edge at the break. Dallas owned the boards from the start, outrebounding Indiana 43-27 with 10 offensive rebounds to the Pacers’ one. That margin is why a 10-point halftime hole never became 20.

Flagg had 13 of his 43 by halftime. The rest came in a rush.

Thirty after halftime

Flagg scored 30 of his 43 in the second half. He went 6-for-6 in the third quarter for 14 points as Dallas cut the lead to 93-90, then opened the fourth with a three-pointer that tied the game at 93. Irving’s seventh three of the night put Dallas in front, and the two of them simply took turns: Flagg and Irving combined for 26 points in the fourth quarter, including Dallas’s first 13 of the period. Flagg scored 16 in the fourth alone.

The duel underneath the headline was real. Siakam’s 29-9-8 line would have led almost any other gamer this season; Flagg answered it with 43-10-6 on 16-of-25 shooting, 8-for-8 at the line and three steals, with a partner who finished +29 beside him. Irving went 11-of-18 with seven threes. Together they scored 78 of Dallas’s 125 points on 27-of-43 shooting — only the second pair of Mavericks teammates ever to score 35 or more in the same game. And no teenager had ever added three steals to a 40-10-5 line before Flagg did it here.

Kyrie’s back-to-back

Irving’s 35 came with its own weight. It tied his season best, in a season-high 38 minutes, and — as the Associated Press reported — it completed a back-to-back for the first time this season: he played 28 minutes in Sunday’s rout of Brooklyn, then carried the second night after sitting out the second game of Dallas’s first back-to-back last month. This is a player who missed 19 months with a torn ACL before returning this season. Dallas (7-4) swept its three-game homestand and sits three games over .500 for the first time since March 1, 2025.

The last 26 seconds

Indiana had one more run in it. Flagg’s pullup jumper made it 123-119 with 26 seconds left, but Aaron Nesmith answered with a three off a Siakam feed to cut it to one. Irving’s two free throws pushed it back to 125-122 with 18 seconds to go. Nesmith got a clean look at a tying three and missed; P.J. Washington rebounded, was fouled, and missed both free throws to leave the door open one final time. It closed at 0.9 seconds, when Caleb Martin stole Andrew Nembhard’s pass and Dallas ran out the clock.

The road comes next. Dallas opens a three-game trip Thursday night at Minnesota (7 p.m. CT), then plays at Cleveland on Saturday and at Boston on Sunday. The Timberwolves have two days with the tape of this one, and the scouting report starts with a 19-year-old who scored 30 points in a half.

Elsewhere Tonight

Spurs 122, Suns 96 — Victor Wembanyama put up 40 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks in 25 minutes in Phoenix, and San Antonio won its ninth straight.

Lakers 124, Hawks 114 — Luka Doncic scored 32 with eight rebounds and 10 assists as Los Angeles improved to 10-2 in Atlanta.

Warriors 138, Pelicans 87 — Stephen Curry scored 25 in 21 minutes and Brandin Podziemski matched him with 25 in a 51-point Golden State rout.

Rockets 110, Nuggets 100 — Jamal Murray scored 38 in the loss; Kevin Durant had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Houston.

Pistons 122, Wizards 111 — Anthony Davis scored 44 with 13 rebounds, and Washington still lost in Detroit.

Hornets 124, Cavaliers 112 — Grayson Allen scored 27 and Naz Reid added 25 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte.

Grizzlies 118, Raptors 102 — Ty Jerome scored 27 and Cameron Boozer added 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in Toronto.

Every number in this wrap traces to the game’s official record — the full box score, play-by-play and quarter splits are on the game’s Game Center page, and Flagg’s season line lives in the Stats Hub — the night’s full picture is on the NBA hub.