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Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) goes to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 27, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) (Jenny Kane/AP)
PORTLAND, Ore. - A 17-point second-quarter Mavericks lead slip, slip, slipped away.
Gradually, inexorably, Portland overtook Dallas early in the third quarter, but the Mavericks punched back and led for most of the fourth period.
A 3-pointer by Portland's Jrue Holiday tied the score at 92 with 2:19 and set Dallas up for another clutch-game heartache, but the Mavericks' Blue Devil Brothers helped pull out a 100-93 victory Friday night here in Moda Center.
Cooper Flagg (24 points) and Marvin Bagley III (26) accounted for half of Dallas' points on this night, with Bagley's two baskets in the last two minutes accounting for the winning points.
Surely it wasn't a coincidence that the Duke men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, and the Duke women made it to the Elite Eight just as Mavs-Blazers ended.
"I guess so," laughed Flagg, when asked if Blue Devil magic was in the air. "Two Duke wins, and the Dallas Blue Devils won, as well."
Psychologically it was a much-needed win for a Mavericks team that had lost five straight, 14 of 16 and 24 of 28 games, a slew of the losses coming in clutch games.
Well, on Friday Dallas played its NBA-high 43rd clutch game, but won for just the 16th time in those situations. At 24-50, wins are not of primary importance to Dallas, so it's not surprising that subplots became positive focal points, both involving Flagg.
He didn't at all mind that Bagley was Friday's high Blue Devil scorer. It was the most points Bagley has had in a game since the 2022-23 season.
Bagley also snagged nine rebounds, teamming with Dwight Powell to neutralize Blazers behemoth center Donovan Clingan.
Perhaps Dallas' Dukies drew inspiration in the locker room from watching the end of the Blue Devil men's 80-75 win over St. John's before Friday's tipoff.
"We've got a lot of Duke haters in the locker room," Bagley said with a smile. "They were talking trash and giving us a hard time, especially when we were down a little bit in the second half.
"But we were able to pull it out. So happy for those guys, and gives us some ammo to go back at [teammates] and talk some trash."
The other ongoing subplot was Flagg himself. In this stretch of his drive to win NBA Rookie of the Year honors, Flagg clearly has shifted into a higher gear.
It's debated which statement Friday night was more emphatic. Was it Flagg's 20 first-half points, which marked his 11th 20-point half of the season? No other rookie has more than two, and all other rookies combined have 10.
Or was Friday's bigger statement coach Jason Kidd's pregame response to The Dallas Morning News asking about the importance of helping Flagg's ROY candidacy.
"Yeah, I think it's a big priority that the organization pays attention to this," Kidd said.
Once upon a time, Mavericks rookie point guard Kidd earned NBA co-ROY honors with Grant Hill, bringing national prestige to a Dallas organization that had been a combined 24-140 in the two seasons prior to his arrival.
"But it's not just the organization," Kidd said. "This is a partnership, and Cooper has to be able to do his part. And he's doing his part.
"He's having a historic year as a rookie. When you put his numbers up against past rookies who have won the award, it's clear-cut that it's not even close that he is the one that will win Rookie of the Year.
"Sometimes votes are looked at differently. Everybody has their opinion on the vote, of popularity, of what the trend is. And so nothing against [Kon] Knueppel. He's having a heck of a season, too. But when you look at the numbers, just the strict numbers, Cooper's are as good as anybody's."
Marvin Bagley III cleared for takeoff!
(via @dallasmavs | #MFFL)pic.twitter.com/67hqzvKSAr
— SportsDay Mavs (@dmn_mavericks) March 28, 2026
Barely an hour after Duke's win St. John's, Blue Devil Mavericks Bagley (11 points) and Flagg (8) combined to lead Dallas to a 32-22 lead after one quarter.
The Mavericks' lead grew to 54-37 with 4:18 left in the second quarter, but by halftime Portland closed the gap to 56-51, despite Flagg's 12 second-period points.
After Portland took a 66-64 lead with 7:55 left in the third quarter, the Mavericks responded by scoring seven straight points – four of them on back-to-back Bagley baskets, to regain a lead they would keep until the night's final frantic two minutes.
Constantly double-teamed in the second half, Flagg was content to take a secondary scoring role and contribute in other ways, including four steals.
Does Flagg feel the support from the Mavericks organization, and fans, in his ROY drive?
"I've felt the support the whole year," he said. "And I think they've put me in incredible positions to just succeed out there. I felt all that love and support.
And I think that's what it comes down to, is just me going out there and being myself.
"I said at the start of the year, as long as I go out there and be myself, drawing the pressure out and whatever other people are saying, all the rest will work itself out if I just go out there and play to my capabilities."
Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
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