Oklahoma City’s perfect start is over. The defending NBA champions ran into a red-hot Dallas Mavericks side on Wednesday night and left Texas with a 120-96 defeat, their first after four straight wins. No one hurt them more than Cooper Flagg, who totaled 26 points to go with eight assists. P.J. Washington was a strong second option with 18 and nine boards.
The game was decided from long range. Dallas knocked down 16 threes on 45 tries, a new season high, and 11 of them fell before halftime. The Thunder went cold in the other direction, hitting just 5 of 32 from deep, the worst mark any Mavericks opponent has posted this season. After a tight opening quarter, the hosts pulled clear through the middle of the game. Oklahoma City briefly stirred with an 8-0 burst in the third, but Dallas replied with 12 unanswered points in the fourth and stretched the margin to 27.
It was a night of firsts in Dallas. Kyrie Irving played his first regular-season home game since tearing his ACL in March 2025 and opened by making his first four shots on his way to 15 points. Dusty May, in his debut season on the Dallas bench, celebrated a home win for the first time. The record now reads 3-2, which puts Dallas over the break-even line for the first time in the Flagg era.
The Thunder had a thin roster to work with, missing Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso among others. Ajay Mitchell led the visitors with 29 and was efficient doing it. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 but struggled with his shot all night.
Next comes a common opponent: unbeaten Houston visits Dallas on Friday, and Oklahoma City travels to the Rockets on Saturday.
