The Dallas Mavericks welcomed rookie star Cooper Flagg to the lineup Thursday against the Orlando Magic, a game that came down to execution in the clutch. It was the Magic who secured a 115–114 victory after a late-game dunk by Wendell Carter Jr.
But Cooper Flagg had spectacular moments of his own, helping the Mavericks score four points in the final 37 seconds of the game. Flagg scored on an and-one to give the Mavericks control of the game. But they couldn't maintain the lead and surrendered a 3-point shot to Jalen Suggs just before Carter's dunk.
According to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News, after the game, Flagg talked about his comfort level playing in tough time situations.
"I would say I'm pretty comfortable. Obviously we've been in a lot of these situations this season," Flagg said. "We haven't won one of those, but it's all a learning experience for us right now. That's what we have to take away from this. We've got to learn, we've got to get better. We'll be in a ton of these situations moving forward next year. Just taking it in and learning. I'm pretty comfortable at this point."
Flagg finished the game with a well-rounded stat line of 18 points, five rebounds, six assists, one steal and four blocked shots in his return from injury. He played 26 minutes and shot 7 of 22 from the field, 1 of 4 from the 3-point line, and 3 of 3 from the free-throw line.
One of the frontrunners for the Rookie of the Year award along with Con Knueppel, Flagg was sidelined before the All-Star break with a foot injury.
He has played just over 33 minutes per game in 50 games this season. He is averaging 20.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 47.8 percent from the field, 30.1 percent from the 3-point line and 80.7 percent from the free-throw line.
