Memphis sink the Mavs even further

It was a clash of two struggling Western Conference teams Saturday night at the American Airlines Center, and once again the visitors walked away with the win. Memphis forward Santi Aldama stole the spotlight—both as his team’s leading scorer and for a heated exchange with rookie sensation Cooper Flagg during a defensive sequence.

Mavericks’ home woes continue

For Dallas, it was another harsh reminder of their reality. The franchise is already looking ahead to next season after parting ways with its sporting director, the architect of a controversial trade. This year, the Mavs have dropped 13 of their 18 home games, squandering what was supposed to be a favorable schedule.

Anthony Davis looks lost, D’Angelo Russell either misused or disengaged, and Klay Thompson a shadow of his former self. The result: a 96–102 defeat to Memphis, who simply capitalized on Dallas’s mistakes, lapses, and lack of competitive edge. The rebounding disparity told the story—61 to 41 in favor of the Grizzlies. Fans voiced their frustration loudly.

Memphis entered the weekend on a five-game skid, but back-to-back wins over Sacramento and Dallas have steadied the ship. Ja Morant remained sidelined with a muscle injury, though he still made headlines by mocking Klay Thompson after the game, pointing at him and exchanging words.

Aldama vs. Flagg

Aldama had already clashed with Thompson earlier this season, but this time the tension centered on rookie Cooper Flagg. During a transition play, Aldama appeared to grab Flagg to slow him down, sparking a brief confrontation. Flagg voiced his displeasure, but the incident ended there.

On the stat sheet, Aldama delivered: 20 points in 35 minutes as a starter, plus 8 rebounds and 4 assists. The Gran Canaria native has now shone in consecutive games, earning more minutes in coach Tuomas Iisalo’s rotation—and making the most of them.

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Dallas Mavericks

Stats

32 Cooper Flagg
25 P.J. Washington
21 Daniel Gafford
0 Max Christie
10 Brandon Williams
30 Moussa Cisse
1 Jaden Hardy
14 Miles Kelly
13 Naji Marshall
16 Caleb Martin
7 Dwight Powell
31 Klay Thompson

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
32 Cooper Flagg	33	12	7	2	5	1	1	1	1	3/4	3/12	1/3	0	2	0
25 P.J. Washington	31	15	8	2	6	4	2	1	2	0/1	6/12	1/5	0	2	0
21 Daniel Gafford	27	5	8	3	5	4	2	0	2	1/1	2/6	0/0	0	5	0
0 Max Christie	22	9	3	1	2	0	2	0	0	0/0	3/5	1/2	0	0	0
10 Brandon Williams	31	18	3	1	2	4	1	1	0	4/4	4/7	2/4	0	3	0
30 Moussa Cisse	9	0	4	1	3	1	1	1	2	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	2	0
1 Jaden Hardy	12	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/4	0	1	0
14 Miles Kelly	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
13 Naji Marshall	29	13	7	0	7	4	0	0	2	4/4	3/4	1/4	0	1	0
16 Caleb Martin	11	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/2	0/2	0	1	0
7 Dwight Powell	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
31 Klay Thompson	27	22	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	2/2	1/5	6/12	0	4	0

Memphis Grizzlies

Stats

7 Santi Aldama
0 Jaylen Wells
14 Zach Edey
23 Cedric Coward
5 Vince Williams Jr.
3 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
45 GG Jackson II
46 John Konchar
31 Jock Landale
21 Jahmai Mashack
18 Olivier-Maxence Prosper
24 Cam Spencer

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
7 Santi Aldama	34	20	8	2	6	4	0	1	1	0/0	7/12	2/5	0	1	0
0 Jaylen Wells	31	9	5	3	2	4	0	0	0	3/4	3/8	0/2	0	2	0
14 Zach Edey	26	12	15	7	8	3	4	1	4	8/8	2/3	0/0	0	5	0
23 Cedric Coward	25	9	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	3/5	3/7	0/4	0	1	0
5 Vince Williams Jr.	24	10	10	3	7	5	3	2	0	4/4	3/6	0/3	0	4	0
3 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	25	10	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0/0	2/4	2/4	0	0	0
45 GG Jackson II	7	2	2	0	2	0	1	0	0	0/0	1/4	0/1	0	0	0
46 John Konchar	19	4	7	3	4	1	2	0	0	0/1	2/3	0/2	0	0	0
31 Jock Landale	4	7	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0/0	2/4	1/2	0	0	0
21 Jahmai Mashack	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
18 Olivier-Maxence Prosper	17	2	7	2	5	0	1	0	0	0/0	1/5	0/3	0	2	0
24 Cam Spencer	23	17	4	1	3	5	1	1	0	2/2	3/5	3/5	0	3	0