Cooper Flagg makes teen history as Mavericks top Heat

The box score is absurd before you even get to the footnote. Then the footnote shows up, and nobody under 20 has ever done this.

NBA

@NBA

A HISTORIC NIGHT FOR COOPER FLAGG 🤯 29 PTS 6 REB 11 AST 5 STL (CAREER-HIGH) 3 BLK MAVS ROAD W Flagg (19 years, 309 days) became the first teenager in NBA history to record 25+ PTS, 10+ AST, 5+ REB, and 5+ STL in a single game!

Flagg was 19 years and 309 days old on Monday night. The 5 steals are a career high, and he scored 12 of his 29 in the 4th quarter of a game that went back and forth to the end. The play that decided it was on defense. With 31 seconds left he blocked an Andrew Wiggins 3 that would have put Miami ahead, and Dallas held on to its 2-point lead.

The 8 stocks are what should scare the rest of the league. Plenty of 19-year-olds can score in bunches, but very few can cover this much floor on the other end. Mavs beat writer Christian Clark went back to the film and pulled out a play that shows how much ground Flagg covers.

Christian Clark

@christianpclark

Cooper Flagg was basically at the right block when Andrew Wiggins caught the ball. Got all the way to the corner in time to get a piece of the shot. One of his eight stocks last night. Monster two-way performance.

He went from the right block to the corner in the time it takes a pass to get there and still got a piece of the shot. That's the two-way thing everyone projected for him coming out of Duke, and early in Year 2 it's already showing up in games. Dusty May, in his 1st year coaching Dallas, called Flagg a 'bad dude' afterward. Hard to argue.

He also had help, which matters for a team trying to climb out of a slow start. PJ Washington scored 20, Kyrie Irving had 18 and Walter Clayton Jr. added 15, and Dallas got back to 2-2. On the other side, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for his first triple-double in a Heat uniform, and it still wasn't enough. Miami is 0-4, its 1st 0-4 start since 2008-09.

Next up is a much tougher test. The Mavs host Oklahoma City on Wednesday, and if Flagg keeps guarding 2 spots on the floor at once against the champs, the history note will turn into a weekly thing.