INGLEWOOD, Cali. — Cooper Flagg continued his historic weekend in Los Angeles with a significant milestone on Saturday night at Intuit Dome.
With a hostile fanbase rooting for him to miss, the 18-year-old Mavericks rookie stepped to the free-throw line and calmly drilled two clutch free throws that gave his team a three-point lead with 90 seconds left.
The pair of freebies gave him a new career-high and made him the second-youngest player in NBA history to reach 30 points. It marked a career night for Flagg, who finished with 35 points to help the Mavericks claim a 114-110 win over the LA Clippers on Saturday night.
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Asked Cooper Flagg about his career-night:
“It’s an honor. 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…I have incredible teammates and coaches around me who put me in positions to do this.” pic.twitter.com/I8Mhr4t7i7
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) November 30, 2025
One night before at Crypto.Com Arena, Flagg’s playmaking was on full display. He became the second-youngest player in league history to record at least 10 assists in Friday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. On Saturday, he became the youngest player ever at 18 years and 343 days to score at least 35 points.
“It’s an honor,” Flagg said. “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. … I have incredible teammates and coaches around me who put me in positions to do this.”
Flagg made it his mission to put the ball in the basket, especially since the Mavericks were more short-handed than usual.
P.J. Washington Jr. missed the game because of a right ankle sprain suffered during pregame warmups. He joined Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum on the injury list.
Without Washington, who led the team in scoring in their previous two road games against the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers, the Mavericks relied on their versatile rookie to produce the best offensive game of his young NBA career.
Flagg scored a career-high when the Mavericks needed him to the most. He utilized nearly every area of his offensive skillset inside the arc. He drilled pull-up midrange jumpers, turnaround fadeaways and several finishes through contact.
His most explosive play occurred around the eight-minute mark of the third quarter, when Flagg drove right, but suddenly shifted directions to the left, leaving Ivica Zubac on his heels. Flagg added another vicious dunk to his collection of posters, and this one featured Zubac as the Mavericks rookie slammed the ball over the Clippers big man with two hands.
Flagg was the most assertive he’s been this season on Saturday, finishing with a season-high 22 field goal attempts. He had 16 in the first half. Flagg hadn’t taken more than 19 shots in a game before Saturday, both occurring in home games against the New Orleans Pelicans, against whom he scored his previous career-high of 29 points against.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue changed his defensive scheme and gave the job of containing Flagg to Kawhi Leonard in the fourth quarter. The seven-time All-Defensive forward was physical with Flagg and used his two-way talents on the offensive end to keep the Mavericks at bay until Flagg drilled a fadeaway over Zubac to give the Mavericks a four-point lead with 2:47 left.
Leonard led the Clippers with a team-high 30 points with eight rebounds and three assists. James Harden finished with a double-double of 29 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists. Zubac had 15 points and nine rebounds.
The Mavericks had four players reach double-digit scoring figures. Klay Thompson, who had 23 points, reached a significant milestone in the fourth quarter when he drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the night. The shot marked his 2,750th career 3-pointer. He is 53 triples away from tying Damian Lillard for fourth on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers list.
Naji Marshall, who started at power forward in place of Washington, had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Brandon Williams had 14 points and seven assists.
Among the 19 players who stepped on the court Saturday, Flagg proved to be the best of them all. At his current rate, he could find himself in this position again.
Twitter: @MikeACurtis2
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