The Dallas Mavericks haven’t piled up many wins so far this season, but Cooper Flagg’s performance is a reason for optimism.
They take that optimism into Denver on Monday night when they play the Nuggets.
Flagg, the first overall pick in June’s draft, had back-to-back historic games over the weekend and is averaging 16.7 points in his first 20 NBA games. On Friday night, he had 11 assists in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the most ever by an 18-year-old, and Saturday night he became the youngest player to score 35 points in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
LeBron James is the only other 18-year-old to score 35 points in an NBA game and he was five days older than Flagg when he did it in his rookie season.
The Mavericks are 2 1/2 games out of playoff position and dealing with several injuries, less than two years since reaching the NBA Finals. Flagg’s start to his career has been a positive in a tough season.
“Cooper’s upside is limitless,” teammate Klay Thompson said after Saturday night’s 114-110 win. “He has every tool to be great. Sometimes I can’t believe he should be a freshman in college.”
Dallas beat the Clippers without Anthony Davis (left calf injury management) and P.J. Washington. Davis returned to the lineup Friday night after missing a month but Washington could miss time after suffering a sprained right ankle in pregame warmups on Saturday night.
Davis is averaging 19.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in six games this season, and Washington is third on the team, scoring 16 points a game. Davis is probable for Monday’s game while Washington is questionable.
The Mavericks can win consecutive games for the first time this season and extend Denver’s home losing streak to four games. The Nuggets began their home schedule with six straight wins, but have dropped the last three to Chicago, Sacramento and San Antonio.
The loss to the Spurs on Friday night knocked Denver out of the NBA Cup. The Nuggets rebounded to win at Phoenix on Saturday night behind a near triple-double by Nikola Jokic (26 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds). It was the second straight game Jokic, who leads the NBA in rebounds (12.4) and assists (10.9) fell a rebound short of a triple-double.
He is seventh in scoring at 28.9 points a game.
Jamal Murray (24 ppg) is second on the team in scoring, but the team’s third-leading scorer, Aaron Gordon, is out with a right hamstring strain. Spencer Jones has moved into the starting lineup and produced 16 points and nine rebounds — both career-highs — in the 130-112 win over the Suns.
“The more he plays, the more he feels the minutes of having to guard and rebound like he’s doing right now, which is his main responsibility, I think the shooting will follow,” coach David Adelman said postgame.
The Nuggets won Saturday night despite committing 17 turnovers for the second straight game. Those turnovers turned into 53 points over the two games, but they tightened up their defense after giving up 139 points to San Antonio.
“We’ve got to grow up and compete defensively,” Adelman said.
