The Dallas Mavericks have put together a nice run over the past two weeks, winning five of their last six games. While a few of those games were against sub-par teams, the Mavs got wins over the second and third best teams in the Western Conference (the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets, respectively) as well.
There are a number of factors that play into the Mavs’ recent success, including the emergence of Ryan Nembhard, the return of Anthony Davis from injury and Naji Marshall quietly playing some
excellent basketball. Of course, Cooper Flagg plays a huge role in the mix as well. Flagg continues to improve night after night, with another solid effort in Friday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets. In fact, his 22 points and 8 rebounds earned him a piece of NBA history. Flagg is now the only player to record two games of 20+ points, 5+ assists and 0 turnovers at the age of 18 (the first game was a 21 point, 5 assist, 0 turnover affair on November 16th in an overtime win over the Portland Trailblazers).
Flagg currently averages 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Those numbers are brought down by the puzzling decision to start him at point guard early in the season. His numbers have only improved since he slotted back in at his customary position as a forward.
What Flagg is doing this season, especially of late, is quite impressive. He has shown major strides since opening night, quickly becoming a go-to guy for the team, as he lives in the upper echelon of players for minutes played and points scored in the clutch (games within five points with five or fewer minutes left in the game).
While some may argue a stat like this pulls from a small sample size – there are relatively few players in NBA history who were in the league while they were 18 years old – that small sample size really makes the point of how remarkable such a thing is. Had Flagg not fast-tracked his life around basketball, he could easily be a college freshman right now, instead of making history at the NBA level. Being here is one thing, but 26 games into his career, Flagg is proving how special he is after winning West Rookie of the Month while pulling off a bit of history along the way.
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