The Dallas Mavericks suffered a blow during the first half of their game against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday as Anthony Davis left early due to a leg injury. Without Davis on the floor, Mavericks rookie and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg is going to have to step it up as he did during the first half, rrising high for a slam dunk.

On the play, Cooper Flagg brought ball up court, was closely guarded by Pacers guard Ben Sheppard, and proceeded to bump him off to get free for the slam dunk, much to the delight of the Mavericks home crowd.

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Even before the Mavericks selected Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, he was garnering plenty of hype during his lone season of college basketball at Duke. He got off to a slow start to the 2025-26 season, but has since rebounded from that.

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has opted to play Flagg out of position at point guard due to the injuries to Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum. Flagg has appeared in all four games for the Mavericks to this point, at a little over 31 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 38 percent shooting from the field, 26.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 100 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

The Mavericks have gotten off to a 1-3 start to the season, with their lone win coming against the Washington Wizards. With Davis exiting the Pacers game early, the Mavericks have no available centers with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford both out due to injury.