Almost two years ago, Magic forward Paolo Banchero surprised then-Montverde Academy senior Cooper Flagg with the Gatorade national player of year award after practice on the high school campus located roughly 30 minutes from downtown Orlando.
Fast forward to Thursday night at Kia Center and the two players — who share the fact that they’re both No. 1 picks who spent one season at Duke — faced off against each other for the first time in the NBA when Flagg and the Mavericks made their lone trip of the regular season to Central Florida.
Despite Flagg’s best efforts, which included converting an and-one opportunity that put Dallas in front of Orlando by four points with 37.3 seconds remaining in the game, Banchero got the last laugh in a 115-114 Magic victory thanks to a Wendell Carter Jr. dunk with 1.4 seconds left.
Flagg, who returned to the court after missing eight games because of a left midfoot sprain, notched 18 points, five rebounds, six assists, a steal and and four blocks during 26 minutes in the one-point loss.
Banchero finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals, but turned the ball over six times in 36 minutes.
Although Flagg, a native of Maine, couldn’t get the outcome he wanted, he still understood the significance of returning to Orlando, not far from where he capped off a prolific high school career at Montverde.
“It was great to be back,” the 19-year-old said. “It’s a great area. (There were) a lot of fans (and) I saw a lot of my jerseys in the crowd, so it was pretty cool just to kind of be back here and have that vibe.”
With a layup in the first quarter, Flagg became the second-youngest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 points.
Just the 10th player under 20 years old to cross the scoring milestone, he was only 33 days older compared to when LeBron James accomplished the feat as a rookie in 2004.
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel
Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg falls as he shoots among Magic defenders during Thursday’s game at Kia Center. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
“I love Cooper’s game, man,” Banchero said in the locker room. “I just love his aggression. Even when he’s not particularly shooting the ball well, he does so many other things out there.
“He’s just a hell of a player,” Banchero added. “So, it was dope to play against him and look forward to matching up with him in the future.”
They’ll face each other again this season April 3 when the Magic travel to Dallas.
The respect between the two is mutual, even after a back-and-forth battle that Orlando won over the Mavericks.
“He’s a tough guy,” Flagg said about Banchero. “Really skilled and can get to his spots. He’s a great player (who) impacts the game in a lot of ways as well.
“I played against Paolo a little bit in pick-up and stuff back in school, so it was cool to kind of get against him in the real deal in the league.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com