The Dallas Mavericks were back in action on Monday night on the road against the Miami Heat. Despite the Heat acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo in the offseason, they were still looking for their first win of the early season, going 0-3 to start.

After missing Saturday's game against the San Antonio Spurs, Cooper Flagg was already back in the lineup, which was great news for the Mavs.

It looked like a lot of the same issues for Miami early, as they really struggled offensively, though. They only had 11 points midway through the first quarter, and the Mavericks were doing a good job of spreading the ball around, cutting, and hitting shots.

As we saw in the first game against the Houston Rockets, though, when the well runs dry offensively, it takes a while to get it going again.

The Mavericks went nearly four minutes without scoring at the end of the first quarter, and that let the Heat take a 27-23 lead into the next quarter after Giannis Antetokounmpo hit a pull-up three. It was noticeably Zaccharie Risacher who was having issues on the offensive end.

It was more of the same at the start of the second quarter. The Mavericks made their first three shots, then went two and a half minutes without scoring, which helped the Heat build a 12-point lead by the middle of the frame.

Bobby Portis had gotten hot from three, making three in three straight possessions, which forced the Mavericks' defense out of their comfort zone, but they quickly locked back in after a flagrant foul on Daniel Gafford, then a double-technical assessed to Gafford and Portis.

The Heat only scored four points in the final 5:30 of the half, with the Mavericks putting up 17 in that timeframe, heading into the half with a 53-52 lead. The biggest catalyst there was the recently signed Walter Clayton Jr., hitting a pull-up jumper and a three, and finding Cooper Flagg for a bucket at the rim.

Giannis Antetokounmpo started to flex his muscle in the third quarter, scoring or assisting on 7 of 8 Heat baskets in the early going, and that put the Heat back up by 10. One of them will be on the year-end list for dunk of the year, with a poster on Daniel Gafford that hit Gafford in the nether regions.

GIANNIS POSTER WOW pic.twitter.com/dBF3saaazY

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 27, 2026

Gafford took an absolute beating throughout this game, and ended up having to sit for a lot of the second half after picking up his fifth foul in the third quarter.

Again, though, it was Walter Clayton Jr. who settled things down with a three-pointer, then finding P.J. Washington to hit a floater, cutting the lead to 5. With a clutch basket from Kyrie Irving to beat the buzzer, the Heat only led by one heading into the final frame.

For as much as Zaccharie Risacher struggled offensively, he stayed in the game because of his great defense, and then finally hit an open three at the top of the key and a free throw on the next possession that tied the game at 90.

Walter Clayton Jr. hit back-to-back massive buckets after Pelle Larsson hit a three, including an and-one layup, which kickstarted a 14-4 run to push the lead to 7, but it was Cooper Flagg who was the real driving force of that run. He hit some incredibly tough buckets, including a turnaround and-one jumper with less than five minutes to go.

Daniel Gafford fouled out not long after, and then Flagg had back-to-back offensive fouls, which kept them from running away with the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo double-teamed Kyrie Irving on a screen, which forced a turnover and a basket on the other end to make it a three-point game again.

Flagg hit a pull-up three to push the lead to six, then back-to-back baskets for the Heat cut it to two with less than a minute left. Irving missed a three, then Flagg blocked a three from Andrew Wiggins with 30 seconds left. He then beat Wiggins off the dribble to the right, curled around the outstretched arm of Antetokounmpo, and finished with the left to push the lead to 4 with just 10 seconds to go.

That would do it, giving the Mavericks a huge 113-109 win. This loss drops the Heat to 0-4, who now have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers, while pushing the Mavs to a respectable 2-2.

Here are three overreactions from this win.

Mavericks Need Their Frontcourt Reinforcements Soon, but P.J. Washington Looks Great

The frontcourt is supposed to be a strength for the Mavericks, but with Dereck Lively II and Santi Aldama still recovering from surgeries, it's been a lot of Daniel Gafford and Morez Johnson Jr. down low.

Naji Marshall was out of this game because of an illness, which put a lot of pressure on P.J. Washington to deliver, and he delivered, finishing with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

One of the more impressive plays of the game came on a drive by Giannis Antetokounmpo, and P.J. Washington just latched on to the ball to force a tie-up.

While he was just 6/15 from the floor, he showed the toughness and physicality that the Mavericks desperately needed.

That being said, the Mavericks need Lively and Aldama back as soon as possible. Daniel Gafford was taking an absolute beating.

Cooper Flagg's Star Is Emerging

Just three days ago, Cooper Flagg came down on his left shoulder after an unnecessary foul in transition by the Indiana Pacers' Aaron Nesmith, taking him out for the rest of that game and for Saturday's game against the Spurs.

He returns for this game against the Heat and puts up 29 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot down the stretch.

He has clear confidence in his three-pointer, even if it's not falling, to the point that other teams have to respect it.

teams may be double-teaming Kyrie Irving, but Cooper Flagg is already the Mavericks' best player.

Find a Way to Sign Walter Clayton Jr.

This might be a real overreaction, but Walter Clayton Jr. was fantastic for the Mavericks tonight, finishing with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 17 minutes off the bench, shooting 6/7 from the floor while being a +22 in a four-point win.

Sergio De Larrea left the game early with an injury, and Marcus Sasser just didn't look good, so Dusty May went with Walter Clayton, and he completely turned the game around.

Do whatever has to be done to get him a standard contract. Waive Moussa Cisse (who didn't play in a game where the Mavericks needed size), salary-dump Caleb Martin, whatever it takes. Clayton still has potential that the Mavericks really need as a playmaker and shot-maker.

The Mavericks will return home to face the OKC Thunder on Wednesday night.

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