The Miami Heat's hopes of securing their first win of the season once again ended in disappointment after they suffered a 113-109 loss against the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas star Cooper Flagg delivered a dominant performance to help seal Miami's fate, leading head coach Dusty May to praise the young standout as a “bad dude.”

During his postgame press conference, May praised his team’s movement and spacing but shared how difficult it was to contain Flagg when he found openings to attack the basket.

“Well, we were strong,” Maye said. “I thought our guys had good off-ball movement and spacing. Even he just needed a crease. It's a bad dude getting paint like that and finishing. There were three guys trying to block and wait. That's one thing: when you do get an angle, get to the rim.

“They have their perimeter fins in, and you have Bam Banians coming. He was making the right passes. He was fanning out. He was starting closeouts. That's why the ball comes out of his hands at the right time.”

Flagg finished with 29 points and 11 assists, along with six rebounds, five steals, and three blocks, helping the Mavericks improve to 2-2. His performance also made him the first teenager in NBA history to record at least 25 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, and five steals in a single game.

This was not Flagg’s only impressive performance of the season. The former Duke star has averaged 25.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game. Dallas’ decision to select him with the No. 1 overall pick after trading Luka Doncic appears to be paying dividends early in his career.

Article Continues Below

Apart from Flagg, Kyrie Irving contributed 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while P.J. Washington added 20 points and nine rebounds to help Dallas secure the victory.

Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his first triple-double since joining the Heat, finishing with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists. However, his outstanding individual performance was not enough to prevent Miami from falling to 0-4. Davion Mitchell also contributed 21 points, while Bam Adebayo struggled offensively, finishing with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.