‘Special’ Cooper Flagg, Mavericks take aim at Nuggets
Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd says Cooper Flagg is "built differently."
The first-year sensation from Duke has proved that ahead of the Mavericks' encounter against the visiting Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.
Flagg leads all rookies in scoring with an average of 19.13 points per game, just ahead of his former Duke teammate, Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel, who is at 19.05.
Flagg scored 27 points to guide Dallas to a 113-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. He absorbed regular double-team blitzes from the Nets in an impressive return to form after he had been quelled (11 points) in a blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
"He's never going to be afraid," Kidd said of Flagg. "He's built differently.
"I loved the response because the last game wasn't up to his standards. So the bounce-back game for him just shows how he can correct things quickly. Being able to have the ball and make the decisions and be double-teamed, I thought his patience was great."
"We all know he's special. Just understanding we never take anybody for granted, but (with) his skill set, his maturity at the age of 19, he's leading this team."
No less impressive, Dallas' Klay Thompson matched his season high with six 3-pointers in an 18-point haul off the bench. Flagg had just turned 5 when Thompson made his NBA debut with the Golden State Warriors in 2011-12.
Thompson, 35, heaped praise on his much younger teammate.
"You've seen it with each passing week how comfortable he is with the ball in his hands, especially at the end of the game," Thompson said. "Mavs fans are very lucky to watch him nightly and will be for such a long time."
Thompson's fifth 3-pointer against Brooklyn was the 2,800th of his career as he became the fifth player to reach the mark, after Stephen Curry, James Harden, Ray Allen and Damian Lillard.
If Thompson hits a trio of three-pointers against Denver, he will tie Lillard for fourth place with 2,804.
"That's cool -- something I don't take for granted," Thompson said. "Honestly, a pretty sweet position to be in. I'm definitely going to be excited when I do accomplish that feat. That's pretty sweet."
In some positive news for Dallas, Anthony Davis won't require surgery on the ligament damage he has in his left hand. Davis will be re-evaluated in six weeks, per ESPN, but he still will be sidelined against the Nuggets.
The Mavericks' P.J. Washington (right ankle sprain) and Brandon Williams (illness) are questionable, while Max Christie (illness) is day-to-day.
Denver is dealing with a plethora of injuries, headlined by superstar center Nikola Jokic's absence due to a hyperextended left knee.
A next-man-up mentality is required in these trying times -- and was delivered on Tuesday when the Nuggets dug deep to defeat the Pelicans 122-116 in New Orleans.
Jamal Murray returned from a two-game absence due to an ankle injury and illness to pair 35 points with nine assists. Western Conference Player of the Week Peyton Watson scored 31 points, highlighted by a tie-breaking jumper with 39.4 seconds left.
Murray's last assist was his best -- a sizzling pass through traffic to Aaron Gordon for a game-sealing dunk with 10.8 seconds left.
"What Jamal's doing is ... look, if there's guys having better years out there, bring it to my attention," Denver coach David Adelman said. "He's been incredible.
"It's funny (when) you go through this. It's easy to remember the Philly game (overtime win over the 76ers last week), but to look at this whole thing, we've won four out of five games with a lot of different lineups against some good teams. ... Just a really quality win going into a tough back-to-back."