DALLAS (AP) — Ryan Nembhard broke Dallas coach Jason Kidd's club rookie record with 23 assists after No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg's debut season ended with an ankle injury, and the Mavericks beat the Chicago Bulls 149-128 in a season finale Sunday night.
John Poulakidas scored 28 points to lead the Mavericks in a meeting of also-rans that more closely resembled a summer league game. Moussa Cisse had 17 points and 20 rebounds, which tied Roy Tarpley's rookie club record from 1986-87.
Flagg scored 10 points in 10 minutes before exiting with a sprained left ankle in the second quarter. The 19-year-old Rookie of the Year contender finished the season averaging 21.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 70 games.
Rob Dillingham scored 25 points for the Bulls, who head into an uncertain offseason looking for a new head of basketball operations and a decision on the future of coach Billy Donovan. CEO Michael Reinsdorf has said he wants Donovan to return.
Chicago (31-51) was already locked into the ninth-worst record going into the lottery. Dallas (26-56) started the day tied with Memphis for the sixth-worst record and ended it even with New Orleans for the seventh-worst mark. The Pelicans won the season series with the Mavericks.
Tyler Smith and AJ Johnson scored 20 points apiece for Dallas as both teams had eight players in double figures, including all nine who came off the bench.
Nembhard, who scored 15 points, set a franchise record for assists in a regulation game and fell two shy of Kidd's club mark of 25 in a two-overtime game in February 1996. Kidd's rookie record was 17 in 1994-95.
The Mavericks led 45-34 after their highest-scoring quarter of the season in the first and 80-56 following their most prolific half of the season.
Dwight Powell made the 12th start of what could be the last of 11-plus seasons with the Mavericks, finishing with seven points and 12 rebounds. The 34-year-old Canadian was a rookie when he was part of the trade that brought Rajon Rondo to Dallas from Boston during the 2014-15 season.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.