Cooper Flagg scored a career-high 51 points Friday, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach the mark, but the Mavericks fell to Orlando 138-127.
DALLAS — Cooper Flagg scored 51 points Friday night, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach that mark in a single game. The Orlando Magic still won by 11.
Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 28 points and Desmond Bane added 27 as the Magic defeated Dallas 138-127 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,358 fans at American Airlines Center. The game resulted in the Dallas Mavericks' 14th straight home loss.
Flagg is averaging 20.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists across 65 games this season. He ended the night with a career-high 51 points, shooting 19-of-30 overall, 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-7 on free throws, adding six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block in 33 minutes. At 19 years old, he became the first teenager and 10th rookie in NBA history to score 50 points in a game, joining Allen Iverson and Brandon Jennings as the only rookies since the NBA/ABA merger to do it. He also joined Iverson and Michael Jordan as the only rookies since the merger to record three or more 40-point games in a season. No other rookie this year has reached 40 once.
Flagg went on a heater in the fourth quarter after he was given a technical foul with 10:45 left to play. It occurred as part of a sequence that also produced back-to-back ejections on the Dallas bench. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was called for a technical and was ejected, and Naji Marshall was gone nine seconds later after his second technical of the night. Assistant coach Frank Vogel took over with Orlando leading by 24.
Flagg sat at 45 points when Vogel pulled him around the three-minute mark. He came back in and went to work. A 3-pointer pushed him to 48. A mid-range turnaround shot and the ensuing free throw got him to 51. He walked off to a standing ovation.
His shooting efficiency on the night put him in rare territory. Flagg became just the 21st player in NBA history to score 50 or more points while shooting at least 60% from both the field and the 3-point line and converting every free throw attempt. He is the only rookie to accomplish it. The six 3-pointers set a new career high and made him the sixth rookie in franchise history to connect on at least six in a game, alongside Jason Kidd, Rodrigue Beaubois, Yogi Ferrell, Luka Dončić, and Jaden Hardy. His complete stat line -- 51 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals, one block -- had been matched in franchise history only by Dončić against San Antonio on Dec. 31, 2022.
Orlando was not particularly bothered by any of it.
Carter Jr. drew contact all night, finishing a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line to complement his eight field goals. Bane shot 8-of-13 and distributed five assists to go with seven rebounds. Jalen Suggs and Tristan da Silva each scored 19 points, and Franz Wagner added 18. The Magic (41-36) led by 13 at halftime, pushed the margin to 21 entering the fourth quarter, and at one point held a 30-point advantage. Orlando shot 56% for the game.
Brandon Williams scored 23 points for Dallas (24-53), going 9-of-11 from the line with five assists. Klay Thompson had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including four 3-pointers.
P.J. Washington Jr. missed his third consecutive game with an illness. Dereck Lively II and Kyrie Irving remained sidelined with injuries, and Marvin Bagley III sat out with a left shoulder impingement.
The Mavericks have now dropped 14 straight home games at American Airlines Center, their longest such streak since the building opened in 2001. The franchise record is 19 consecutive home losses, set during the 1993-94 season at the since-demolished Reunion Arena.
The Mavericks return to the floor Sunday night when the Los Angeles Lakers visit American Airlines Center.