DALLAS — In early November, Cooper Flagg missed a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer in the Dallas Mavericks’ home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Afterward, Flagg’s high school teammate, Derik Queen, let him know about it. A visibly frustrated Flagg untucked his jersey and then trudged to the locker room.

Cooper Flagg misses the game tying shot and Derik Queen doesn’t let his former high school teammate off easy 😂 pic.twitter.com/eC85V2QDuY

— Liam (@LimNeeson) November 6, 2025

On Friday, their roles were reversed. This time, Queen had an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds. The Pelicans rookie center shot it short, which allowed Flagg’s Mavericks to walk away with a 118-115 win at American Airlines Center.

“I seen him laugh at me,” Queen said. “That’s probably what he was laughing at. That’s crazy. Full circle.”

While Flagg and Queen have engaged in friendly banter this past month, their respect level for each other remains high. They were high school teammates for two years at Montverde Academy in Florida. Montverde was dominant with its Flagg and Queen tandem on the court, posting a 56-3 record in their time there.

In June, the Mavericks chose Flagg with the No. 1 pick. Queen was the No. 13 pick. The Pelicans nabbed him in a controversial draft-night deal, trading an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to move up 10 spots so they could select him.

So far, Flagg and Queen are proving why they were such coveted players. Flagg scored 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists Friday. Meanwhile, Queen flirted with his first career triple-double, tallying 20 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists.

“He has a special way about him of finding teammates and finding shots around the rim,” Flagg said about Queen. “It’s really incredible. That’s something he was doing as my teammate for two years. I saw him dominating kids in high school day in and day out. It’s impossible to stop it. He’s such a talented guy.”

Flagg missed the first game of his NBA career Wednesday because of an illness. He returned to the lineup two nights later and played one of his best games in a Mavericks uniform. Dallas trailed by 14 points at halftime. During the break, coach Jason Kidd spoke to Flagg about not settling for jump shots. In the second half, Flagg scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He didn’t attempt a shot farther than 10 feet from the hoop the whole second half.

“He told me and the team that I just needed to be a little more aggressive driving to the rim,” Flagg said. “I was settling too much. Settling for jump shots. Not that they’re bad shots. But I had to put more pressure on the defense. His message was that they were going to collapse, and that’s what they were doing.”

The Mavericks took the lead for good on Naji Marshall’s straight-on 3 with 32 seconds remaining. Marshall was wide open because of the attention Flagg attracted when he drove the ball through the Pelicans’ defense. That sequence punctuated another strong closing stretch for the Mavericks’ 18-year-old star, who had 12 points and three assists in the fourth quarter.

NAJI MARSHALL WINS IT FOR THE MAVS 🎯

Dallas secures the West Group B victory! pic.twitter.com/PQZObo73yM

— NBA (@NBA) November 22, 2025

“Everything is in his hands right now,” Queen said. “He just has to continue to do that. And keep on getting better.”

The Mavericks didn’t have a traditional point guard on the floor in the final five minutes. D’Angelo Russell missed the game with an illness, and Brandon Williams was struggling to shoot the ball, converting 1 of 12 shots. That left Flagg to take on a lot of the ballhandling duties, and he delivered.

Taking his coach’s advice, Flagg didn’t settle for jump shots. He slashed into the paint and used his size to get shots up over the defense. It was a winning formula.

“His size is unbelievable for an 18-year-old,” Mavericks guard Max Christie said about Flagg. “His ability to use that to his advantage against smaller defenders and even the same size as him. His ability to bump, his touch around the rim. He made some timely baskets for us. We are looking forward to him continuing to do that for us.”

At Montverde, Flagg and Queen discussed the possibility of playing against each other as they progressed in their careers. Both of them are off to promising starts in the NBA. They’ve played two memorable games against each other already. Their head-to-head record is 1-1.

“It was definitely better this time than the other game,” said Flagg, whose Mavericks improved to 5-12. “Lot of respect for D.Q.”