The Dallas Mavericks lost 127-117 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night at Rocket Arena. Cleveland played without Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen and still led by as many as 22 points.

Mavericks forward Naji Marshall faced flopping accusations while the game was still going. The fan page Brick Center posted a clip of Marshall and labeled the play a flop, and other basketball pages and fans soon joined in.

Viral Clip Draws Flopping Accusations Against Naji Marshall

Marshall played 30 minutes off the bench, more than any other Mavericks reserve. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting and five assists. He made all four of his free throws, missed all three of his 3-point attempts and committed three turnovers.

His stat line was not what caught attention. Brick Center posted its clip of him during the game with a two-word verdict: “INSANE flop.”

One fan, replying to Brick Center, said the play came “straight outta the LeBron drama schoolbook.”

The clip spread well before the final buzzer. Another fan addressed Marshall himself, writing, “They caught you in 4K.”

Legion Hoops, a news page, reacted with the same disbelief: “Naji Marshall… come on.”

Others delivered a harsher verdict. Polymarket Hoops, a statistics page, credited Brick Center and called the play “one of the craziest flops you’ll see all season.”

SleeperHoops was blunter still: “Disgusting flop bro.”

One fan wanted a penalty, writing, “Naji Marshall should’ve got fined for this flop.”

No flop was called on the floor. Neither team was charged with a technical foul Saturday. Under NBA rules, a player called for flopping during a game gets a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul, and the other team shoots a free throw.

Officials have been able to call flops in real time since the 2023-24 season, and the league can still review an uncalled flop after the game and issue a decision. The league has made flopping a point of emphasis this season.

That process produced the season’s first flopping fine last month. Paul George was fined $2,000 for a fourth-quarter collision with Detroit’s Duncan Robinson in his Boston Celtics debut, a play that drew no call during the game. Postgame flopping fines go up from there for repeat offenders.

Dusty May Points to Effort as Dallas Mavericks Drop Second Straight

Mavericks coach Dusty May pointed to effort after the game: “Disappointing road performance by us as a group. We didn’t match their desire and determination to compete, and everyone in our travel party needs to be better. But hats off to Cleveland. Those guys got off a plane, and they were ready to compete at a high level.”

The damage came in the second quarter, when Cleveland outscored Dallas 38-20 to take a 71-53 halftime lead. Two nights after a 133-94 loss at Minnesota, May was asked about his team’s urgency early in the game. “We definitely didn’t play with the right level of urgency,” he said.

Caleb Martin, who scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, put it plainly: “Honestly, we just came out flat, and I think all the way down the line, including myself, we came out flat.”

Dallas outscored Cleveland 64-56 after halftime but never got closer than nine. Marshall was part of that push, scoring 8 of his 12 points after the break and assisting on four baskets, including two Kyrie Irving layups in the third quarter.

Cleveland improved to 7-7, sixth in the Eastern Conference, and hosts the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

Dallas fell to 7-6, 10th in the Western Conference. The Mavericks visit the Boston Celtics on Sunday for the second night of a back-to-back, with a 6 p.m. ET tip at TD Garden. Any postgame ruling on Marshall’s play would come from the league office.