Cooper Flagg’s 22 points and a poster dunk fuel Mavericks’ first win

Rookie Cooper Flagg needed lone 1 dribble and a fewer agelong strides to alteration the night. He caught a look-ahead walk adjacent midcourt, roseate done interaction implicit Toronto’s Sandro Mamukelashvili, and finished an and-1 dunk that blew the extortion disconnected the American Airlines Center. The play headlined Flagg’s archetypal NBA triumph and a implicit game: 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, zero turnovers. “The fans person showed up for the archetypal 3 games, and I thought contiguous was truly the archetypal clip we gave ’em thing to beryllium excited for,” helium said aft Dallas bushed the Raptors 139–129.

Dallas yet shook disconnected an aboriginal violative slump, with 7 players successful treble figures and a 26–9 third-quarter burst that flipped a seven-point shortage into a double-digit lead. Flagg drove that tally with 7 points and 3 assists, punctuated by the poster that sent teammates leaping disconnected the bench. “When he’s getting the assemblage going similar that, our squad feeds disconnected it,” defender D’Angelo Russell said. “Everybody wants to spot him bash great. So erstwhile he’s performing similar that, it’s contagious.”

History connected the stat sheet, urgency connected the floor

Flagg’s enactment came with context. At 18 years and 309 days, helium became the fifth-youngest subordinate successful NBA past to people 20 oregon much points successful a game, trailing Jermaine O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and LeBron James. He besides joined Bryant arsenic the lone players to scope 20 earlier turning 19 without committing a turnover, per ESPN.

Dallas played with gait and unit portion prima defender Kyrie Irving rehabs a torn ACL suffered successful March. The Mavericks piled up 25 fast-break points, 70 points successful the paint, and lived astatine the stripe, going 29-for-39. Center Dereck Lively II helped ignite the crowd-turning series with a rebound and speedy outlet. “As soon arsenic helium took off, I knew it was going to beryllium butter,” Lively said of Flagg. “He’s bringing his energy, getting him supra the rim. The full assemblage loves it.”

Flagg sounded grounded afterward. “It feels great. I’m excited,” helium said. “We privation to physique disconnected tonight, usage it arsenic a baseline. This squad needs to conscionable support gathering and getting better.”