Mavericks hand Thunder first loss, 120-96 in Dallas

The Oklahoma City Thunder scored three points in the last 6:45 on Wednesday night. They had 93 when Ajay Mitchell made two free throws at 6:45 and 96 when the game ended. The Dallas Mavericks beat them 120-96 at American Airlines Center and ended the Thunder's 4-0 start.

Dallas led 108-93 at 6:45 and outscored Oklahoma City 12-3 the rest of the way, a 12-0 run that took the lead from 15 to 27. Cooper Flagg scored 26 points and had eight assists and no turnovers. The Mavericks are 3-2. The Thunder are 4-1.

Dallas never trails again

Oklahoma City led 28-25 with 1:44 left in the first quarter. Dallas scored eight straight points to go ahead 33-28, and it led 33-30 at the end of the quarter. The Mavericks did not trail again after 28-28 with 1:03 left in the first.

They won the second quarter 32-29 and led 65-59 at halftime.

Then came the third quarter. Oklahoma City cut it to 65-61 at 10:19. Dallas answered with 11 straight points, and it was 76-61 at 7:50, a 15-point lead. Oklahoma City answered with an 8-0 run that made it 78-71 at 5:56. Dallas won the quarter 29-22 and led 94-81.

The fourth quarter

Mitchell kept Oklahoma City in it early in the quarter. He scored on a 13-footer at 11:44, a 14-footer at 10:30, two floaters at 7:53 and 7:14, and two free throws at 6:45. Dallas led 108-93 at that point.

The Mavericks then scored 12 in a row between 5:26 and 2:11 to lead 120-93. Oklahoma City's only points after 6:45 were Brooks Barnhizer's free throw at 1:53 and a short jumper at 1:11. The Thunder were 0 for 4 from three in the fourth quarter and scored 15 in it. Dallas scored 26.

The numbers

Flagg made 10 of 23 shots, 4 of 4 free throws, and had five rebounds. Kyrie Irving scored 15 and was plus-25 in 27 minutes. P.J. Washington scored 18 with nine rebounds. Zaccharie Risacher scored 13 off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting, and Caleb Martin, Morez Johnson Jr. and Marcus Sasser scored 10 each. Daniel Gafford had 11 rebounds.

Mitchell led Oklahoma City with 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 on 7 of 19, with six free throws in six tries, and was minus-21 in 28 minutes. Isaiah Hartenstein had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Dallas made 16 of 45 threes. Oklahoma City made 5 of 32. That is a 33-point gap from three-point range, 48-15. The Thunder committed 13 turnovers that led to 16 Dallas points. Dallas had nine turnovers and Oklahoma City scored nine points off them. The Mavericks scored 17 fast-break points to none for the Thunder, and won the rebounding 49-43. The Thunder shot 36 of 87 overall, 41%, and the Mavericks 46 of 97, 47%.

The crowd was 18,111.

What is next

Dallas hosts Houston on Friday, October 30, at 8 p.m. ET. Oklahoma City visits Houston on Saturday, October 31, at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Oklahoma City opened its season with a 116-104 win over the Spurs in a Western Conference final rematch.

Scoring

Dallas: Cooper Flagg 26, P.J. Washington 18, Kyrie Irving 15, Zaccharie Risacher 13, Max Christie 11, Caleb Martin 10, Morez Johnson Jr. 10, Marcus Sasser 10, Daniel Gafford 7, Walter Clayton Jr. 0, Tobi Lawal 0, Moussa Cisse 0, Jett Howard 0.

Oklahoma City: Ajay Mitchell 29, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 21, Isaiah Hartenstein 10, Jared McCain 10, Bennett Stirtz 8, Kenrich Williams 7, Aday Mara 6, Brooks Barnhizer 3, Josh Dix 2, Jaylin Williams 0, Micah Peavy 0.

By quarter: Dallas 33, 32, 29, 26. Oklahoma City 30, 29, 22, 15.