The Houston Rockets ’ unbeaten start ended Friday night. The Dallas Mavericks erased an 11-point second-half deficit and won 116-111 in both teams’ NBA Cup opener, led by a dominant pair. Cooper Flagg scored 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting, and Kyrie Irving added 35 points and nine assists. Afterward, Fred VanVleet was direct about what went wrong and quick to move on to Saturday’s back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Flagg and Irving Found Their Rhythm

Flagg set the tone early, scoring 10 straight points in the first quarter. Irving took over late, and the two combined for 27 points in the fourth. VanVleet said Houston’s defense allowed both players to settle in, and that was the difference.

“We didn’t make it tough on them. We let them get too comfortable. Guys of that caliber, once they’re feeling good, it’s hard to slow them down. They got to the spots they wanted to get to and continued to put pressure on the defense.…