Thirty-Eight to Twelve: One Awful Quarter Buries the Mavs in Houston, but Cooper Flagg's 32 Gives Dallas Something to Hold Onto

By Marcus Delaney, RF Sports Radio Mavericks voice

Mavs Nation, I told you Houston would win. I did not tell you it would be over by halftime. One quarter, twelve minutes of basketball, turned opening night into a lesson, and Dusty May's first NBA game into a history note nobody wanted.

The facts

The Houston Rockets beat the Mavericks 128-110 on Wednesday night at Toyota Center, per the AP. Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. each scored 30. Houston led by six after one quarter, then outscored Dallas 38-12 in the second, closing the half on a 19-2 run to lead 70-38. Per ESPN Research, via ESPN's Tim MacMahon, that was the largest halftime deficit in a head coach's first game with a team in NBA history. Dallas shot 4-of-19 in that quarter, including 0-of-14 from three, and allowed 20 fast-break points in the first half. The Mavericks committed 21 turnovers that led to 32 Rockets points, per The Dallas Morning News.

Cooper Flagg led everyone with 32 points, 23 after halftime, which The Dallas Morning News reported is the most ever by a teenager in a season opener. Kyrie Irving scored 15 on 6-of-9 shooting in 24 minutes in his first regular-season game since tearing his ACL in March 2025; Houston trapped him early, and he had four points and three turnovers in the first half. "Kyrie's been out 600 days and our game plan was all him," Durant said. Marcus Sasser scored six in a 9-0 run that cut it to 103-86 before Houston pulled away.

"We let go of the rope as a group," May said. "They outworked us, to be honest. They did a better job," he added, per Mavs Moneyball. Irving: "They put on their boxing gloves and they beat us up pretty good in that second quarter." Flagg: "We didn't really have anybody that was setting a tone defensively." Max Christie started over Zaccharie Risacher, and Lively, Aldama and three others were inactive, per the official box score.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: do not overreact to the score, but do not ignore the second quarter either. The shots were fine for a while. What broke was the response. When the threes stopped falling, Dallas stopped getting back, and a veteran team like Houston will punish that every time.

The best thing I saw all night was Flagg saying the problem out loud. A 19-year-old calling out the lack of a defensive voice, and including himself, is what franchise players do. And the scoring? Thirty-two on opening night, most of it after the game was decided, still tells you he is ready for a bigger load.

Kyrie I am not worried about. Six-of-nine in limited minutes is efficient. Houston sent two at him because it respects him. As his minutes go up, that trap opens shots for everybody else.

My call: the Mavs split the back-to-back, losing Friday in Indiana and winning the home opener against the Spurs Saturday. That is a prediction, not a report.

What to watch next

Dallas plays at Indiana on Friday at 6 p.m. Central, then hosts San Antonio on Saturday at 7 p.m. Central. Watch transition defense, turnovers and Irving's minutes. For the opening-night preview, read our Oct. 21 Mavericks opening-night preview, and keep up on the Dallas Mavericks page.

Radio question: what worries you more after opening night — the 38-12 second quarter or the 21 turnovers?

Sources: ESPN / AP — Durant and Smith each score 30 to power the Rockets past the Mavericks; ABC13 / ESPN — Kyrie Irving hounded by Rockets in return; The Dallas Morning News — Kyrie Irving's return spoiled by Rockets' game plan; The Dallas Morning News — 5 thoughts from Mavericks-Rockets; Mavs Moneyball — Mavericks vs. Rockets quoteboard; NBA.com — Official box score, Mavericks at Rockets; NBA.com — Mavericks at Pacers, Oct. 23, 2026.