Kyrie Irving's 35 points help Mavericks edge Rockets 116-111

Kyrie Irving scored 35 points, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 116-111 at American Airlines Center on Friday night. Irving made 12 of 19 shots and had nine assists. Cooper Flagg scored 33 with nine rebounds and six assists, and Dallas made 42 of 81 field goals, which is 51.9 percent.

Houston leads at halftime

Dallas led 27-20 after the first quarter. Houston led 51-44 at halftime after a second quarter in which it scored 31 to Dallas's 17.

The Rockets' biggest lead came with 33.7 seconds left in the third quarter, when they led 84-73, a margin of 11. The third quarter ended 84-76, with Dallas scoring three in the final seconds.

Dallas comes back

Dallas scored 40 points in the fourth quarter to Houston's 27, and that quarter decided the game.

Irving made two free throws with 6.2 seconds left, and Dallas led 113-110. Amen Thompson missed the second of his two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, and Flagg made his one free throw to make it 114-111. Irving then made both of his free throws with 3.1 seconds left, and the final score was 116-111.

Irving made five of eight threes. He had four rebounds and nine assists. Flagg made 13 of 19 shots, and he made no threes in four attempts.

Kevin Durant scored 28 for Houston on nine-of-20 shooting. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 and had three rebounds in 35 minutes. Fred VanVleet scored 16 and made three of his 10 threes. Amen Thompson had 15 points and 39 minutes.

Tari Eason scored 11 and grabbed 13 rebounds for Houston, and Marcus Smart scored eight.

Numbers

Dallas made 42 of 81 field goals, which is 51.9 percent, and 12 of 33 threes. Houston made 40 of 96 field goals, which is 41.7 percent, and seven of 29 threes, which is 24.1 percent.

The lead changed hands nine times over the game, and the score was tied 46 times.

Daniel Gafford scored 18 points on six-of-seven shooting. P.J. Washington scored three, and Zaccharie Risacher scored 12 with three threes.

The Mavericks' starters scored 91 points and the bench scored 25. Gafford, who scored 18, made six of his seven shots in 27 minutes. Caleb Martin scored eight in 25 minutes. Durant played 37 minutes and had five rebounds to go with his 28 points. Every Houston starter played at least 30 minutes. Flagg played 39 minutes, and Irving played 35. Dallas's three-point shooting was 12 of 33 for the game. Max Christie scored two in 18 minutes for Dallas.

The crowd at American Airlines Center was 18,832.

Scoring

Dallas 116: Kyrie Irving 35, Cooper Flagg 33, Daniel Gafford 18, Zaccharie Risacher 12, Caleb Martin 8, Max Christie 2, Morez Johnson Jr. 2, P.J. Washington 3, Walter Clayton Jr. 3, Marcus Sasser 0.

Houston 111: Kevin Durant 28, Jabari Smith Jr. 22, Fred VanVleet 16, Amen Thompson 15, Tari Eason 11, Marcus Smart 8, Bogdan Bogdanovic 6, Clint Capela 5, Oscar Tshiebwe 0.

Quarters: Dallas 27, 17, 32, 40 (116). Houston 20, 31, 33, 27 (111).

What is next

The Mavericks host the Sacramento Kings on Monday, Nov. 2, with the game listed for 9 p.m. ET. The Rockets host the Boston Celtics the same night, at 9:30 p.m. ET.