No Luka Dončić, no Austin Reaves, no problem. Cooper Flagg took center stage on Sunday in a nationally televised game as the Dallas Mavericks (25-53) outlasted the Los Angeles Lakers (50-28) at American Airlines Center, 134-128. The Mavericks had lost 14 straight home games entering the contest but finally broke through the night they faced a Lakers team whose top two scorers were on the bench injured.
Flagg killed the Lakers for 45 points and this time added nine rebounds and eight assists to lead
Dallas past the hobbled Lakers. LeBron James scored 30 points and dished 15 assists for LA in the loss and came up one rebound shy of another triple-double in the loss.
Flagg started the game right where he left off after Friday’s 51-point outburst, hitting three of his first four shot attempts, including his first two over Jake LaRavia. His First 3-pointer was a make from the left corner just 3:19 into the game to give the rookie seven points as the Mavericks jumped out to an early 14-7 lead. That 6-for-9 night from distance on Friday wasn’t just an aberration, apparently.
Flagg was fouled by Luke Kennard on his second 3-point attempt of the game and hit all three free throws. When he’s not hesitant, he’s beginning to see that good things happen for the Mavs. He scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first quarter, the most he’s scored in an opener this year on the most shot attempts he’s hoisted in an opener this year.
Klay Thompson nailed a 3-pointer near the top of the key with .7 seconds left in the first to give Dallas a 41-30 lead at the end of one. Dallas built a lead as large as 22 points early in the second quarter, going up 58-46 on Flagg’s fourth assist of the half for a Khris Middleton 3-pointer, but the Lakers outscored the Mavs 25-9 over the last eight-plus minutes of the second quarter to close it to 67-61 at halftime.
Dallas responded in the third quarter, behind 10 more points from Flagg and a late surge from Brandon Williams off the bench, and carried a 107-97 lead into the fourth. Los Angeles promptly cut that lead to five points, down 112-107 on LaRavia’s running dunk in transition on James’ 11th assist of the game with 8:45 left in the game.
Flagg is pissed
Flagg obviously did not appreciate the results of Friday’s ESPN straw poll among likely postseason award voters that saw Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel firmly in the lead in the Rookie of the Year race. He became the youngest player to eclipse the 50-point mark in an NBA game in a 138-127 loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday and followed that up with 45 against the Lakers.
His aim with six games left in the regular season was clearly to take all choice out of the voters’ hands. We’re watching this Pokemon morph into something inevitable before our very eyes.
Flagg scored 19 points in the first quarter, giving him a combined 43 points in his last two quarters following his 24-point explosion in the fourth quarter on Friday against Orlando. After making just 2-of-6 from the field in the second, Flagg scored 10 points in the third to give him 36 points in the game.
He drove past Jaxson Hayes on the Mavs’ first possession of the fourth for a bucket at the rim and a three-point play to put him at 39 points and give the Mavs a 112-100 advantage. He hit a turnaround jumper over Kennard with about four minutes to play to eclipse the 40-point mark for the second straight game — except on Sunday he added eight rebounds and nine assists to the stat line.
Gafford leaves with late injury
Gafford left the game and went straight to the locker room early in the fourth quarter after skying for a rebound over Rui Hachimura. He grabbed at his right shoulder as the Mavs played 4-on-5 basketball on the offensive end for one possession and was taken out of the game with 9:30 left to play.
The shoulder has bothered Gafford for the last couple of games. This season has been a rough one for Gafford, and it might be time to shelf him for the final four games of the season.
Williams and Washington show up late
Brandon Williams took off in the second half, helping the Mavs respond every time the Lakers made a run at the lead. He scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half with the Mavericks searching for offense down the stretch.
Still, the Lakers crept back within six points, down 121-115 with just over four minutes to play. Flagg was inserted back into the game and drew the defense to him, kicked it out to Washington waiting along the sideline and watched as Washington sank his third 3-pointer of the game to give the Mavs some much-needed breathing room late in the proceedings. It was Flagg’s ninth assist.
Washington finished with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and Williams chipped in 13 with five assists off the bench in the win.
