Rookie Cooper Flagg shines at the start of the NBA season. The super talent leads the Dallas Mavericks to their first season win.
In just his third NBA game, Cooper Flagg impressively demonstrated why the Mavericks drafted him first in the draft.
In the 139:129 home victory against the Toronto Raptors, the 18-year-old brought the crowd to their feet with a thunderous And-1 dunk – and led Dallas to their first season success.
A dunk that turned the tide
Midway through the third quarter, the Texans were still seven points behind when center Dereck Lively II secured the rebound and initiated the fast break.
Flagg caught the long pass just behind the half-court line, drove to the basket, and slammed the ball over Sandro Mamukelashvili through the hoop. The arena erupted, the bench jumped up together, and Dallas started a 26:9 run that ultimately turned the game around.
Historic milestone at 18 years old
Flagg ended the night with 22 points, four rebounds, and four assists – and without a single turnover. According to ESPN, the forward at 18 years and 309 days is only the fifth youngest player in NBA history to score at least 20 points; only Jermaine O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and LeBron James were younger.
Together with Bryant, he is the only player under 19 to achieve a 20-point game without turnovers.
“It feels great”
“When Cooper electrifies the crowd like that, it energizes every one of us,” emphasizes D’Angelo Russell, who provided the alley-oop assist for the highlight dunk. “Everyone wants him to succeed big. When he performs like that, it’s contagious.”
After the 0:2 start, Dallas has finally opened their season. For Flagg, it was the first win of his young career – and a potential promise for the future: “It feels great. We want to build on this game and get better every day.” Mavericks fans hope that his flight to the basket was just the beginning of a long winning streak.