No NBA player younger than Cooper Flagg has scored more points than Flagg did on Thursday.
Facing the Charlotte Hornets and his former teammate Kon Knueppel, Flagg posted a career-high 49 points in a 123-121 loss for the Dallas Mavericks. No teenager has ever scored that many points in NBA history, and it’s also a Mavericks rookie record.
Advertisement
The latter record was previously co-owned by Flagg and Mark Aguirre. In a fun twist of fate, the Mavericks were retiring Aguirre’s No. 24 the same night.
Knueppel also posted a new career high with 34 points on 10-of-16 shooting (8-of-12 from 3-point range) plus 4 rebounds and 4 assists. In addition to finishing one point shy of 50, Flagg had 10 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 20-of-29.
The game came down to both players. Flagg tied the game at 121-121 with a 3-pointer, but Kneuppel got a steal at his expense on the next Dallas possession and ended up shooting a pair of free throws to take the lead. Flagg had a chance to tie the game and hit the half-century mark, but missed long after shooting through a double team.
This article will be updated with more information.