{"id":92437,"date":"2025-12-18T04:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T04:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92437\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T04:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T04:58:12","slug":"cooper-flaggs-newfound-aggression-began-with-nudge-from-his-mavericks-teammates-coaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92437\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Flagg\u2019s newfound aggression began with nudge from his Mavericks teammates, coaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mavericks<\/a> rookie Cooper Flagg has two of the five highest scoring games by an 18-year-old in NBA history.<\/p>\n

His 42-point explosion in Monday\u2019s overtime loss in Utah<\/a> ranks first on the list and his former career-high of 35 points on Nov. 29 against the LA Clippers<\/a> ranks fourth. The other three spots [second, third and fifth] belong to LeBron James, the league\u2019s all-time leading scorer.<\/p>\n

Flagg averages 18.4 points, which is second among rookies after his college teammate, Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets. His versatile ability to score has come in handy and is a big reason why the Mavericks have won five of their last seven games.<\/p>\n

Did Jason Kidd and the rest of the Mavericks know he was capable of being a volume scorer this early into his career?<\/p>\n

Mavericks<\/p>\n

Be the smartest Mavericks fan. Get the latest news.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYeah,\u201d Kidd said after Wednesday\u2019s practice. \u201cWhen you look at him in high school, him in college, he can score the ball. So I would say yes. Now to scoring 30 or 40 this soon? Anything\u2019s possible in this league and he\u2019s one that\u2019s taken full advantage of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flagg is averaging 25.7 points on efficient averages of 54.5% from the field from the field and 81.1% from the free throw line over the last seven games, helping the Mavericks to a 5-2 record during that stretch.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Prior to his explosion in Los Angeles, which was essential because the Mavericks were without Anthony Davis and P.J. Washington, Flagg had to be urged to be more aggressive on the offensive end. That nudge came from Kidd and the rest of his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s about the team and doing the right thing,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cFor him, this is all new at this level so any conversation we have is to help him. Be extra eyes and ears for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis all started against the Clippers. Being aggressive early and not waiting. I think sometimes he defers to AD or to others because they\u2019re vets and they can score, too. I think he tries to do the right thing first, but for him, when guys are out he looks to be aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mavericks were without Davis on Monday<\/a>, leading to his newest career-high of 42 points, which made him the youngest player in NBA history with a 40-point game. Flagg scored 40 points in regulation, but just two points in the extra period after rolling his ankle toward the end of the fourth quarter. He was not listed on the injury report and he\u2019ll be available for Thursday\u2019s home game against Detroit.<\/p>\n

Kidd said they could\u2019ve used Flagg in several ways down the stretch against the Jazz other than just as a scorer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoop was going, but it doesn\u2019t always mean you have to go to Coop,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cYou can use Coop in different ways. It\u2019s a learning experience for us. We had some shots that when others touch the ball, they\u2019re trying to throw it to Coop instead of being aggressive. Coop would appreciate others being able to step up, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flagg\u2019s assertiveness will be key for the Mavericks to remain competitive going forward.<\/p>\n

On Twitter\/X: @MikeACurtis2<\/a><\/p>\n

Arlington Bowie\u2019s retirement of Cade Cunningham\u2019s number deepens his bond with D-FW<\/a>As Mavericks spread holiday cheer in community, Kyrie Irving surprises teammates with gift<\/a><\/p>\n

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg has two of the five highest scoring games by an 18-year-old in NBA history.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4643,4642,102,104,2582,103,4280,4281,3080,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-92437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-anthony-davis","9":"tag-cooper-flagg","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-headlines","12":"tag-dallas-mavericks","13":"tag-dallas-news","14":"tag-jason-kidd","15":"tag-mavericks","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}