{"id":61060,"date":"2025-07-13T01:54:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T01:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61060\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T01:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T01:54:14","slug":"cooper-flagg-shines-in-summer-league-clash-with-dylan-harper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61060\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Flagg shines in summer league clash with Dylan Harper"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 The Dallas Mavericks<\/a> suffered a 76-69 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday afternoon in their second game of the NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg<\/a> led the Mavericks with a game-high 31 points, four rebounds and one assist, while David Jones-Garcia scored 21 points off the bench for the Spurs.<\/p>\n

Related:How Mavericks, Spurs showed support for Texas flooding victims ahead of summer league game<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are five observations from Saturday\u2019s game:<\/p>\n

Mavericks<\/p>\n

Be the smartest Mavericks fan. Get the latest news.<\/p>\n

Flagg bounces back<\/p>\n

Flagg candidly described his summer league opener as one of the worst games of his life. That wasn\u2019t the case Saturday as the No. 1 overall pick rebounded with a significant bounce back effort. Flagg\u2019s explosiveness was on full display. He caught two alley oops in the second half, showing why he will be a significant lob threat for the Mavericks in transition.<\/p>\n

Related:Watch: Cooper Flagg throws down big dunk for first bucket with Summer League Mavericks<\/a><\/p>\n

In the waning seconds of the third quarter, Flagg beat Jones-Garcia off the dribble and drove to the basket for a one-handed tomahawk dunk that resulted in a wave of applause from the fans inside Thomas & Mack Center. He finished with four dunks, showing his athleticism whenever the opportunity presented itself.<\/p>\n

After missing all five of his attempts from 3-point range on Thursday, Flagg connected on three of his nine attempts from beyond the arc. Flagg was decisive and shot the ball confidently, rarely hesitating on the decision to launch.<\/p>\n

Despite the loss, Flagg\u2019s ability to bounce back was an encouraging sign. It remains to be seen whether Flagg will suit up again for the Mavericks, but he gave a glimpse of why he\u2019ll be an integral part of the team\u2019s rotation next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trusting all the work,\u201d Flagg said after the game. <\/p>\n

Flagg vs. Harper<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s matinee between the Mavericks and Spurs was a clash between the first and second overall picks.<\/p>\n

Flagg was the consensus top pick in last month\u2019s draft, while the Spurs selected Rutgers guard Dylan Harper. Harper made his debut Saturday after missing the Spurs\u2019 first two games of the California Classic, along with Thursday\u2019s game against the Philadelphia 76ers because of a minor groin injury.<\/p>\n

Harper finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists. He showed off his athleticism on several occasions, including an emphatic one-handed block on Ryan Nembhard<\/a> in the second quarter. The first-year guard made an acrobatic layup, which was followed by a pull-up 3-pointer by Flagg.<\/p>\n

The matchup didn\u2019t draw the same intensity and appeal as Flagg and Bronny James<\/a>, but it served as a preview of what could be the start of a renewed rivalry between the Mavericks and Spurs.<\/p>\n

Flagg can get to the line<\/p>\n

Flagg made a concerted effort to attack the paint and get to the free throw line. He only managed to attempt one free throw on Thursday, but was more assertive on Saturday. His first points of the game were scored after he drove baseline and completed a layup as he was fouled. He could\u2019ve had a three-point play, but Flagg missed the free throw. He finished 8-of-13 from the stripe and critiqued his five misses after the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still missed a bunch of free throws and I know my mom probably wasn\u2019t very happy with that, but just trying to get to the free throw line and get some stuff early.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flagg\u2019s ability to get to the stripe will be beneficial for the Mavericks, who attempted the sixth-most free throws in the NBA last season (1,894).<\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s impact<\/p>\n

Flagg was one of two Mavericks to reach double figures in Saturday\u2019s game. The other was two-way guard Miles Kelly<\/a>, who finished with 11 points. He knocked down a pair of triples, following his three 3-pointers from Thursday\u2019s win over the Lakers.<\/p>\n

After the game, Kelly was asked about his comfortability with the NBA 3-point line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m the most confident individual in this world so it doesn\u2019t matter if I go 0-for-10 or 5-for-5, I\u2019m shooting like I\u2019m hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ajinca misses second straight game<\/p>\n

Melvin Ajinca, the 51st pick in the 2024 draft, did not suit up for the Mavericks for the second consecutive game due to a groin injury. Ajinca was present for the team\u2019s shootaround on Thursday, but did not play against the Los Angeles Lakers nor the Spurs. The Mavericks are not scheduled to practice Sunday, so Ajinca\u2019s next opportunity to play could come as soon as Monday\u2019s game against Charlotte.<\/p>\n

X\/Twitter:<\/b> @MikeACurtis2<\/a><\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/a>How Mavericks, Spurs showed support for Texas flooding victims ahead of summer league game<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mavericks, Spurs and Rockets were among those showing support for flooding victims in Central Texas.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Mavericks GM Nico Harrison has vote of confidence from Mark Cuban ahead of 2025-26 season<\/a><\/p>\n

In a recent interview, Cuban shared his thoughts on some of the challenges Harrison faces in his role.<\/p>\n

Find more Mavericks coverage from <\/b>The Dallas Morning News<\/b> here<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 The Dallas Mavericks suffered a 76-69 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday afternoon…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,2494,1596,3139,6650,2629,62,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-61060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cooper-flagg","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-mavericks","13":"tag-nba-draft","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tx","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114843436083828648","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}