Rookie Cooper Flagg neared a triple-double on Tuesday, helping the Dallas Mavericks snap a two-game losing streak with a victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Flagg produced a team-high 33 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, one steal and one blocked shot in the 131-130 win at the American Airlines Center. He went 14-of-21 from the field, including a season-high four 3-pointers, in nearly 40 minutes.
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The No. 1 pick tallied 22 points in the first half alone, becoming the youngest player in history with at least 20 points on 90% shooting in a half (19 years, 2 days). He joined his coach, Jason Kidd, and Luka Dončić as the only two rookies in team history to reach his stat line in a game.
“He is not good enough to get a triple-double, I guess,” Mavericks center Anthony Davis jokingly said. “He is not there yet. I didn’t know that. I think I took one of his rebounds, too. But that’s a hell of a stat line, especially with a win. I got to congratulate him. I didn’t know he had that.”
With Flagg leading the way, Davis recorded 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals and Naji Marshall added 15 points. It was the first game in franchise history that a pair of teammates each recorded at least 30 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
The performance by Flagg came after the former Duke All-American finished with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists in a road loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Kidd was impressed with the way Flagg bounced back to lead the Mavericks.
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“(I) saw a lot in the sense of on a back-to-back, understanding, to his standards, he might not have played well last night, and so for him to come and set the tone for us tonight,” Kidd said. “He filled up the stat sheet; he almost had a triple-double. But we played through him late, and he found the right guys and executed on both ends of the floor for us tonight.”
Flagg is averaging 19.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals on 48.7% shooting from the field in 30 games with the Mavericks. He ranks second in rookie scoring and is one of two first-year players with three 30-point performances.
The 6-foot-8 forward appears to be settling in on the court after improving his scoring in each month so far this season. He is hopeful that the team can build on its performance and carry positive momentum into its Christmas Day matchup against Golden State.
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“I think, for us, we’re just taking it day by day, game by game,” Flagg said. “Tonight was a great opportunity for us. We came off two losses. We felt like we could have got two wins, but (we’re) just moving on day by day, coming out and competing and playing really hard.”
This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Mavs news: Cooper Flagg set another career benchmark with latest game