Cooper Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to score 50-or-more points in a game, but the Orlando Magic found a way to withstand him and the Dallas Mavericks.
The Orlando Magic were able to outlast the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, 138-127, despite 51 points from Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg.
After the game, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley applauded his team’s communication and facilitation on offense.
“You know, they did a great job of communicating with each other,” Mosley said. “Their talk, their ability to share the basketball. I mean, you talk about 35 assists, moving it, sharing it, trusting the pass, playing with the right style and pace of basketball, and just really their trust in each other. That was great to see.”
Despite giving up a lot of points, especially to Flagg, Mosley also praised the defensive effort Orlando provided.
“Defensively, at moments, we were very good,” Mosley added. “And then we had some lapses again. You've got to give Dallas credit and Cooper for what he did tonight, but at the end of the day our guys did an unbelievable job of responding back and playing for one another.”
At 19 years old, Flagg became the youngest player in league history to score at least 50 points, but the Magic’s collective offensive effort prevailed in the end. Wendell Carter Jr. led the way with 28 points, Desmond Bane added 27 points, and the Magic saw each of their starters score in double figures while Tristan da Silva provided 19 points as the sixth man.
“Hard to guard,” Mosley said about the Magic’s offense when they play effectively. “I mean, to me, that was selfless basketball. I mean, the biggest thing for me is if you go back and watch any of the tape, you just see the lines of communication amongst the guys, them talking about what they saw, where they can be on the floor.
The Magic also shot 56% from the field and 53.8% from 3-point range.
“I mean, the ownership in that was just really big time, and that's why you have 35 assists, because you're sharing it, trusting it, not worried about anything other than how do we find a way to find that the right play is always going to be the right play.”
Mosley also took the time to individually praise Carter, whose 28-point performance marked a season-high point total.
“It's big time,” Mosley said. “His presence at the rim is great for us. Our coach, Randy Gregory, challenged him today to be the presence in that paint, to attack the glass, to touch the paint, to spray out, to make the right decisions.
“And he's one of the most selfless guys we have because he's just trying to do the right thing by this team, and then when he does that, the guys celebrate him to make sure that he's getting touches on the back end as well.”
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