The Dallas Mavericks hope Cooper Flagg’s recent individual brilliance finally translates to team success when they host the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
Flagg backed up his record-breaking 49-point haul on Thursday against the Charlotte Hornets — the most by a teenager in an NBA game — by pouring in 34 during a 111-107 loss Saturday at the Houston Rockets.
“That’s how he’s built,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s built to win. He’s going to try to do everything to help his team win. He’s done that all season.”
These solo heroics from the rookie sensation — back after a two-game absence with a rolled left ankle — couldn’t prevent the Mavericks’ losing streak from extending to four.
Flagg scored 21 of his points after halftime against Houston, but he missed a game-tying layup with 25 seconds left and a 3-point attempt with 0:09 on the clock that would have reduced Dallas’ deficit to one.
Nevertheless, teammate Daniel Gafford is more than happy for Flagg to be the man to take those important shots.
“Coops? Oh, amazing,” Gafford said. “Put the ball in his hand and good things happen throughout the stretch of the game. We trust him to take those shots at the end of the game that he took. And the majority of the time, those shots fall.
“I’m pretty sure it was tough that he didn’t see that last one go in. He just came off a 49-point game. The sky’s the limit for him, so let him just get the ball and go.”
Compounding Dallas’ disappointment in defeat, neither guard Brandon Williams nor forward P.J. Washington finished the game.
Williams, who got off to a hot start with 13 first-quarter points, was ruled out in the second period after limping off with a lower right leg contusion following a collision with Rockets guard Reed Sheppard.
Later, Washington went to the locker room after copping an accidental elbow from teammate Naji Marshall, before being ruled out with a head contusion in the closing minutes of regulation. Washington is in concussion protocol and out for Tuesday, while Williams is questionable.
The Mavericks, already down their best player — Anthony Davis (finger) — for the foreseeable future, can’t afford to keep losing bodies with the Celtics coming to Texas fresh off a 107-79 demolition of the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.
Boston stumbled into a shocking 12-0 hole before dominating Milwaukee for the rest of the contest, especially on the defensive end where the Celtics limited the Bucks to 16, 19 and 18 points in the last three quarters.
Jaylen Brown led Boston’s charge with 30 points and a season-high 13 boards. The league’s fourth-leading scorer, averaging 29.4 points per game, has been on a rebounding tear of late.
He has averaged 9.6 boards across his past seven outings, to boost his season average to a career-high 6.9 per game.
“We always talk about (how) there’s a bunch of different ways you can lead — there’s 1,000 ways,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “One of them is what you saw (Sunday) — he had nine rebounds in the first half alone … It’s just another way that he leads. His understanding (of) what gives us the best chances to win every night, and also helping set the tone for the standards we have to have on both ends of the floor.”
Dallas and Boston split their pair of meetings last season with the road team winning both times.
