Cooper Flagg followed a historic performance with another sensational outing, going for 45 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to lead the host Dallas Mavericks over the short-handed \u200bLos Angeles Lakers 134-128 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Flagg, fresh off becoming \u200cthe youngest player in NBA history to score 50-plus points with his 51 on Friday against Orlando, flirted with his first career triple-double for an encore. The Mavericks rookie opened on a pace ahead of his record-setting outburst \u200cfrom \u200bFriday, going for 26 of his game-high \u2060point total in the first \u2060half.<\/p>\n
Flagg\u2019s strong start set Dallas (25-53) on course for the win, as they led almost the entire contest against the injury-thinned Lakers (50-28).<\/p>\n
Los Angeles came into Dallas without Most Valuable Player contender Luka \u200bDoncic, lost for at least the final week of the regular season after sustaining a Grade 2 left hamstring strain \u2060in a blowout loss at Oklahoma City \u2060on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Lakers\u2019 troubles were compounded with the \u200bannouncement Saturday that their second-leading scorer for the season, Austin Reaves, would \u200balso at least miss the remainder of the regular \u200cseason due to a Grade 2 left oblique strain.<\/p>\n
LeBron James did what he could to pick up the slack, nearing a triple-double with 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds. James led all \u2060five Lakers starters in scoring in double-figures, including Luke Kennard, who completed his first career triple-double with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.<\/p>\n
But \u2060depth vexed Los \u200cAngeles, with Dallas\u2019 bench outscoring the Lakers\u2019 46-35, \u2060and the Mavericks successfully created breakaway opportunities with \u200b21 \u200cpoints on 12 turnovers.<\/p>\n
Dallas built a 22-point lead \u200bbehind P.J. Washington\u2019s \u206015 points, Naji Marshall and Brandon Williams each scoring 13 and Klay Thompson knocking down three 3-pointers on the way to 11 points to support Flagg.<\/p>\n
Thompson\u2019s effort off the bench helped Dallas outshoot Los Angeles from beyond the arc, 14 of 32 to 8 of \u200b27.<\/p>\n
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