Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg wasn’t able to step up for an injured Anthony Davis by leading his team to a win Saturday night in Mexico City.<\/p>\n
Flagg recorded 16 points and eight rebounds in a 122-110 loss to Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons at Arena CDMX.<\/p>\n
Flagg went 8-for-8 from the foul line, but just 3-for-14 from the field and 1-for-8 from two-point range in the loss.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks rookie doesn’t turn 19 until December, and he was playing Saturday night in just his sixth NBA game. <\/p>\n
The hype surrounding his selection at the top of the 2025 NBA draft still left some fans wondering both about Flagg’s readiness and Jason Kidd’s coaching.<\/p>\n
The Pistons opened the game with a run of seven straight points before spending the first half trading the lead back and forth with the Mavs.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks went into the fourth quarter leading by seven points, but Detroit finished out the game on a nine-point scoring streak to close out the comeback win.<\/p>\n
Two of those points came on free throws after Flagg fouled Duren with just over a minute left in the game.<\/p>\n
D’Angelo Russell, who was coming off the bench for a sixth straight game, led the Mavs in the loss with 31 points in just 30 minutes on the court.<\/p>\n
Max Christie, Klay Thompson and Brandon Williams also contributed double-digit point totals in the loss.<\/p>\n
The Pistons were meanwhile led by double-doubles from both Cunningham (21 points, 18 assists) and Jalen Duren (33 points, 10 rebounds).<\/p>\n