Sixteen Threes, Gafford's First Ever, and Kyrie's Home Return: Mavs Rout the Short-Handed Thunder 120-96

By Marcus Delaney, RF Sports Radio Mavericks voice

Mavs Nation, I said Wednesday was the best shot Dallas would get at the champs for a while. The Mavericks did not just take the shot. They buried it, from deep, 16 times.

The facts

Dallas beat Oklahoma City 120-96 at American Airlines Center, per the Associated Press. Cooper Flagg had 26 points and eight assists, and P.J. Washington scored 18. The Mavericks led by 12 in the first half and by 27 in the fourth quarter, and at 3-2 they are over .500 for the first time since Flagg joined the team last fall, per AP. It was also the first home win for first-year coach Dusty May.

Kyrie Irving scored 15 points, 13 in the first half, when he hit his first four shots, including three 3-pointers. AP noted it was Irving's first home regular-season game since March 3, 2025, when he tore the ACL in his left knee.

The shooting gap was the game. Dallas made a season-best 16 3-pointers on 45 attempts, 11 of them in the first half. The Thunder went 5 of 32, a season-worst 15.6 percent. One of those Dallas threes came from Daniel Gafford, his first make from deep in eight NBA seasons, on his 2,384th career shot, per AP.

Oklahoma City (4-1) was without Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso. Ajay Mitchell led the Thunder with 29 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 21. CBS Sports noted OKC swept all three meetings last season and had been chasing a third straight 5-0 start. Next up for Dallas is Houston at home on Friday.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: let us be honest about the asterisk. That was not the full Thunder. Four rotation players in street clothes changes everything. But you can only beat who shows up, and the Mavs did not play down to a depleted opponent. They put it away.

What I loved most was the ball movement. Flagg with eight assists and zero turnovers, per his NBA.com game log, is a point-forward line. Coach May told reporters, per CBS Sports, that Flagg is going to have some 15-to-20 assist games. Nights like this are how you get there: shooters spacing the floor, the ball moving, and the kid making the right read.

And Kyrie. Thirteen first-half points in his first home regular-season game in more than a year and a half? That is the guy this team was built to pair with Flagg. I want to see how his knee handles this homestand, but the early returns are a lot of fun.

What to watch next

Can Dallas shoot like this against Houston on Friday, or was this a one-night heater? How are Irving's minutes managed? For the pregame setup, read our Oct. 28 Mavs-Thunder preview, and track the homestand on our Dallas Mavericks page.

Radio question: a blowout of a short-handed champ, does it count as a statement win, or do you wait until OKC is healthy to get excited?

Sources: AP News - Cooper Flagg has 26 points, 8 assists as Mavericks beat depleted Thunder 120-96; NBA.com - Thunder vs Mavericks game summary, Oct. 28, 2026; NBA.com - Cooper Flagg player page and game log; CBS Sports - Cooper Flagg, Mavericks host unbeaten, banged-up Thunder.