Cooper Flagg dismantles Nets as Mavericks hand Brooklyn embarrassing 37-point loss

Two nights. Two entirely different failures. The Brooklyn Nets blew a 17-point lead against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. On Sunday, they never led at all.Cooper Flagg scored 25 points and handed out a career-high 12 assists as the Dallas Mavericks dismantled Brooklyn 130-93 at American Airlines Center. The Nets fell to 2-8, their promising offensive work from a night earlier replaced by a defensive performance that gave Dallas little trouble from the opening tip.Flagg scored 14 points in the first quarter, repeatedly slipping into the lane for floaters and finishes. He opened the second with a dunk through contact, converted the free throw, then began picking Brooklyn apart with his passing. Seven of his assists came in the second quarter, when Dallas outscored the Nets 33-20.The Mavericks led by 22 after Naji Marshall’s transition 3-pointer with 7:09 remaining in the second. They were ahead 66-46 at halftime, and Brooklyn’s brief push early in the third quarter only preceded another Dallas run. The lead reached 30 before the period ended.Dallas ultimately won by 37, shooting 57.1% from the field and scoring 64 points in the paint. Kyrie Irving added 21 points, and Daniel Gafford scored 18 on 7-for-8 shooting.The Mavericks made their share of contested shots. More troubling was how frequently Brooklyn allowed Flagg and Irving to get deep into the paint before attempting to stop them. Dallas rarely needed to reverse the ball or work through multiple actions to find a favorable shot. It finished with 31 assists despite committing 21 turnovers.Brooklyn’s offense was no better equipped to respond. Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Dëmin were unavailable, leaving the Nets short on guards who can create 3-pointers off the dribble against Dallas’ size and switching defense. Nolan Traoré picked up his second foul with 8:47 left in the first quarter, further complicating Jordi Fernández’s rotation. He finished with 14 points on 6-for-15 shooting.Michael Porter Jr. scored 15 of Brooklyn’s 26 first-quarter points, making three 3-pointers to keep the deficit to seven. He made just one of his final nine shots, finishing with 19 points on 5-for-15 shooting. Julius Randle scored 13 points and was a minus-33 in 30 minutes. Brooklyn shot 38.8% overall and 11-for-39 from deep.Fernández’s rotation raised more questions. Noah Clowney fouled out with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter after collecting six fouls in just 7:47. He finished with two points and no rebounds, his defensive rebounding troubles compounded by repeated fouls. Josh Minott, meanwhile, did not enter until the fourth. He scored 10 points with two steals and a block against Dallas’ reserves, giving Fernández something to consider when deciding who has earned playing time.Danny Wolf, making his second straight start, finished with 10 points and three rebounds against former Michigan coach Dusty May. Day’Ron Sharpe had six points and six assists after his triple-double Saturday.Brooklyn couldn’t protect a lead in Atlanta. In Dallas, the Nets couldn’t establish enough defensive resistance to stay competitive.Their four-game trip continues Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans and Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Fernández has two days to address what went wrong in Dallas, and a 2-8 record that leaves little reason to be satisfied with how Brooklyn has started the season.____