Rookie Cooper Flagg stunned with a career-high 35 points, becoming the youngest to hit the mark and sealing a thrilling victory for short-handed Dallas.
LOS ANGELES — Cooper Flagg didn’t just steady a depleted Dallas roster on Saturday night — he lifted it, carried it and ultimately defined a game that belonged unmistakably to him.
The 18-year-old rookie delivered a career-best 35 points at Intuit Dome, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach that mark as the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers 114–110. In the closing minute, with a sellout crowd roaring and defenders scrambling to trap him, he stepped to the line and buried six straight free throws to secure the win.
Flagg called the moment an honor, offering a window into the gravity of the night.
“It’s pretty cool to be in this position and I just feel blessed just to have this opportunity to be here in this league and play through it and be able to do things like that,” he said. “I have incredible teammates and coaches around me that put me in position to do this.”
Those teammates needed him more than ever. Dallas ruled out P.J. Washington Jr. during warmups after he sprained his right ankle stepping on a loose ball. Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum were all already unavailable, leaving Flagg and a skeleton rotation to manage a second straight night in Los Angeles.
Flagg set the tone from the jump. He attacked downhill, hunted mismatches and used nearly his entire scoring package — pull-up midrange jumpers, turnaround fadeaways, left- and right-hand finishes, and a burst of physicality that belied his age. By halftime, he had 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting and had already delivered the first of two unforgettable highlights.
Just after the eight-minute mark of the third quarter, Flagg drove right, slammed on the brakes, and shifted left, leaving Ivica Zubac flat-footed before detonating a violent two-handed dunk over the Clippers center. Teammates had to run to restrain an animated bench.
Klay Thompson, who scored 23 points and drilled his 2,750th career three-pointer in the fourth quarter, couldn’t hide his appreciation.
“That dunk on Zubac was probably one of the few best dunks I’ve seen in several years,” Thompson said. “You can see his potential in being a superstar.”
Flagg shrugged it off afterward, describing it as instinct more than spectacle.
“Just another one of those plays,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to make the athletic play and just raise up on top.”
Thompson saved his strongest praise for the overall performance — not just the dunks.
“To do that against some incredible defenders in Kawhi and Batum is very impressive, especially on the second night of a back-to-back,” he said. “What an incredible feat for such a young player in 38 minutes.”
The fourth quarter tested that poise. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue assigned Leonard — a seven-time All-Defensive selection — to Flagg, and Leonard responded with a series of physical possessions that slowed Dallas’ offense. Leonard also poured in 30 points in a bid to power the Clippers across the finish line.
Still, Flagg found his counters. With 2:47 remaining, he created space against Zubac and hit a fadeaway that pushed Dallas ahead by four. Moments later, he drove into Leonard’s chest, absorbed contact, and finished another three-point play.
“He’s somebody I definitely obviously want to model my game after,” Flagg said of Leonard. “Just being an incredible two-way player and playing both sides of the ball at a really high level. He’s done that for a long, long time.”
Jason Kidd saw a breakthrough forming early — and didn’t see the energy drop even as the game tightened late.
“I thought Cooper set the tone early when he was aggressive in getting to the rim,” Kidd said. “For the 38 minutes he was on the floor he was aggressive. To be able to score 35 tonight. Last night he almost had a triple-double. You’re seeing that he’s starting to understand what back-to-backs are like.”
The Clippers had their runs. James Harden added 29 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists, and his deep fourth-quarter three cut the Mavericks’ lead to two. But each time L.A. edged close, Flagg or Thompson supplied the counterpunch: a three from Thompson to give Dallas a 104–103 advantage with 1:51 left, a pair of free throws from Flagg to extend the margin to 106–103, and four more free throws in the final 35 seconds to keep the Mavericks ahead.
Naji Marshall, starting in place of Washington, contributed 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Brandon Williams added 14 points and seven assists, often setting up Flagg in transition.
Dallas, fighting through injuries and entering at 5–15, needed a stabilizing force. It got something far bigger — a night that reshaped expectations for a franchise cornerstone only 21 games into his NBA career.
“Cooper’s upside is limitless,” Thompson said. “Sometimes I can’t believe he should be a freshman in college or a sophomore or whatever he should be. I might be in the last chapter of my career, but he’s just beginning. So it’s really cool to see that develop.”