Cooper Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 40 points in a game.
The Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz dueled in one of the highest-scoring games of the season, one that saw Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg score 42 points that were still not enough to result in a win. Dallas ran out of gas in overtime, getting outscored 11-4 in the extra period at Delta Center, to fall to the Jazz 140-133 on Monday.
Though the feeling in the locker room was a somber one, the applause for the rookie's record-breaking performance was notable. Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 40 points in a game - and first to do so at 18 years old.
The previous scoring record for an 18-year-old was LeBron James' 37 points scored for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Boston Celtics on Dec. 13, 2003. Also in this game, Flagg passed Tracy McGrady for third place in the all-time scoring list for 18-year-olds.
James leads with 625 points, followed by Kobe Bryant with 539 and Flagg with 479 and counting.
"It doesn’t surprise me at all," Mavs forward P. J. Washington said about the rookie's outburst. “I know exactly what he’s capable of. He’s a special player, so it’ll be lot more to come, and we know that.”
Flagg posted a full stat line of 42 points on 13-of-27 shooting and 15-20 mark from the free throw line. He added seven rebounds and six assists. It was a complete team effort throughout - with Washington totaling 25 points and 13 rebounds and Ryan Nembhard scoring 14 and dishing out 11 assists - but Flagg soared high above the rest.
“He never quit,” center Daniel Gafford said postgame. “He just kept going. He just kept attacking the basket, taking the shots that he felt comfortable taking and just giving us that edge that we needed throughout the course of the game.
“Every shot that he was comfortable with basically went in, so I give him his props. He got downhill, he knew what his assignment was and he just attacked the basket. He kept us in the game for the majority of the game.”
The scary thing - at least for the rest of the NBA - is that Flagg is just now talking about getting more comfortable.
"I think I’m just settling in," said Flagg. "It’s a new game, it’s a different spacing, different people out there.
"I’m getting more and more comfortable with my teammates. I’m playing alongside them and figuring that out. I’m just being myself and letting the game come to me and I think it’s worked out for me."
Above all, the first overall pick is trying to get back to the Mavs' winning ways from these last couple weeks. Dallas had won five out of its last six games before making the trip to Utah, and a slew of quality opponents await to close out the calendar year.
“It’s cool, but like you said it would have been great to get a win,” Flagg said. “That’s what I’m kind of more focused on. I want to look at it as wins and losses. Obviously, we didn’t win, so it’s tough for me to be happy or any of that. But obviously it’s success and I want to keep trying to get better from here.”
Dallas, at 10-17 and 11th in the West, has two more games before Flagg's 19th birthday on Dec. 21 - at home against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons (21-5) on Dec. 18 and at the Philadelphia 76ers (14-11) on Dec. 20.
The Mavs will then close out 2025 with four of their next five games on the road.