Cooper Flagg Makes History, Nikola Jokic Praises Mavs Rookie After Nuggets' Loss
Dallas Mavericks star rookie Cooper Flagg made some more history in Tuesday night's 131-130 win over the Denver Nuggets, and he earned som praise from one of the league's best players.
Flagg dropped 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the victory, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to put up those numbers and joining Jason Kidd and Luka Doncic as the only rookies in franchise history to register that stat line.
"He was definitely a hot hand out there," three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic said of Flagg, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "But just, I'm going to say the poise that he played with, he doesn't feel like he's so young out there. He seems like he played meaningful games and he was winning before. That's my opinion. He looked really mature out there."
Flagg turned 19 on Sunday, and he feels that his newfound maturity has helped improve a flaw in his game.
"I had my birthday," Flagg said after his epic performance on Tuesday. "I'm 19. I've only missed like one 3 since I turned 19."
MacMahon pointed out that Flagg is actually 5-of-7 from beyond the arc since his birthday, including a season-high four triples against the Nuggets. It's a far cry from the 23.4 percent clip that he shot from three-point range in 28 games as an 18-year-old.
Flagg had endured some early rookie struggles, but he seems to have found his groove in recent weeks. He's shown poise in crunch time, as MacMahon noted that his 68 points in clutch situations rank fourth in the NBA. He made key plays down the stretch of Tuesday's game to help Dallas outlast a Denver team that is ranked third in the Western Conference.
"It was the tough shots he made," Nuggets head coach David Adelman said of Flagg. "Some of the threes late in the clock. He got to his spots. I thought Bruce [Brown] really fought him the second half and he still made some really tough shots in key moments. He's very impressive, man. … Sometimes it doesn't matter when a really good player can make shots over the top, and that's what he did."
At 12-19, Flagg and the Mavs have a lot of work to do to climb the standings in the West, but they will try to keep the momentum going in a marquee Christmas Day matchup against the Golden State Warriors (15-15).
