DALLAS (AP) — Cooper Flagg scored 22 points, Anthony Davis had 17 points and 17 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks extended their first winning streak of the season to three games with a 118-108 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
Undrafted rookie Ryan Nembhard had 15 points and a season-high 13 assists after scoring a career-high 28 points in the previous game, a 131-121 victory over Denver. Klay Thompson scored 17 points in his relatively new role off the bench.
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Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) goes up for a basket against Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks guard D'Angelo Russell (5) and Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. chase after a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard prepares to shoot against the Miami Heat during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. tries to keep the ball in bounds against the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg dribbles the ball up court against the Miami Heat during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Kel’el Ware had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, while Tyler Herro scored 20 points but was shut out after halftime in his fifth game of the season coming off surgery to repair an issue affecting his left ankle and foot.
The Heat played without leading scorer Norman Powell, who has a sprained left ankle. Dallas center Daniel Gafford exited in the second half with a left ankle injury and didn't return.
Flagg, the rookie No. 1 overall pick, and Davis combined to score the last eight Dallas points after the Heat had cut a 17-point second-half deficit to four with three minutes remaining on a bucket by Bam Adebayo, who scored 21 points.
Davis was playing consecutive games for the first time since missing a month with a left calf strain.
Nembhard, who has made four consecutive starts that are the first of his career, made all three of his 3-point attempts during a three-minute stretch in the second quarter when Dallas took the lead for good. The Mavericks were 16 of 32 from long range.
Herro was 8 of 12 from the field in the first half but missed the only five shots he got after the break, four from beyond the arc.
Heat: At Orlando on Friday night.
Mavericks: At Oklahoma City on Friday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) goes up for a basket against Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks guard D'Angelo Russell (5) and Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. chase after a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard prepares to shoot against the Miami Heat during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. tries to keep the ball in bounds against the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg dribbles the ball up court against the Miami Heat during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Moscow pounded Ukrainian power infrastructure with drone and missile strikes on Saturday and Kyiv launched a deadly strike of its own on southwestern Russia, a day before talks involving senior European and U.S. officials aimed at ending the war were set to resume.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials will hold a series of meetings in Berlin in the coming days, adding that he will personally meet with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys.
“Most importantly, I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace — a political agreement to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation late Saturday.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are traveling to Berlin for the talks, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
American officials have tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including which combatant will get control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.
“The chance is considerable at this moment, and it matters for our every city, for our every Ukrainian community,” Zelenskyy said. “We are working to ensure that peace for Ukraine is dignified, and to secure a guarantee — a guarantee, above all — that Russia will not return to Ukraine for a third invasion.”
As diplomats push for peace, the war grinds on.
Russia attacked five Ukrainian regions overnight, targeting the country's energy and port infrastructure. Zelenskyy said the attacks involved more than 450 drones and 30 missiles. And with temperatures hovering around freezing, Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said more than a million people were without electricity.
An attack on Odesa caused grain silos to catch fire at the coastal city’s port, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Two people were wounded in attacks on the wider Odesa region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.
Kyiv and its allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.
The drone attack in Russia's Saratov region damaged a residential building and killed two people, said the regional governor, Roman Busargin, who didn't offer further details. Busragin said the attack also shattered windows at a kindergarten and clinic. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.
On the front lines, Ukrainian forces said Saturday that the northern part of Pokrovsk was under Ukrainian control, despite Russia's claims this month that it had taken full control of the critical city. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the claims.
The latest attacks came after Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reaffirmed Friday that Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from parts of the Donetsk region that they still control.
Ukraine has consistently refused to cede the remaining part of the region to Russia.
Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard troops would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarized zone under a prospective peace plan — a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine as U.S.-led negotiations drag on.
Ushakov warned that a search for compromise could take a long time, noting that the U.S. proposals that took into account Russian demands had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.
“We don't know what changes they are making, but clearly they aren't for the better,” Ushakov said, adding: “We will strongly insist on our considerations.”
In other developments, about 480 people were evacuated Saturday from a train traveling between the Polish city of Przemysl and Kyiv after police received a call concerning a threat on the train, Karolina Kowalik, a spokesperson for the Przemysl police, told The Associated Press. Nobody was hurt and she didn't elaborate on the threat.
Polish authorities are on high alert since multiple attempts to disrupt trains on the line linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border, including the use of explosives in November, with Polish authorities saying they have evidence Russia was behind it.
Associated Press reporter Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits attend drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits rest after drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits rest after drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits attend drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this grab from a video provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Friday, Dec 12, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy records a video at the road entering of Kupiansk, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)
