Dallas Mavericks beats LA Clippers, Cooper Flagg breaks LeBron James record

The Dallas Mavericks registered a 114-110 win against the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome on Saturday night. Cooper Flagg played an instrumental role in the win, becoming the youngest player to score 35 points in a game. The 18-year-old broke the Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James’ record as he led an injury-ridden team to victory.

Earlier on Friday, Flagg had provided 11 assists, the most ever by an 18-year-old, in a loss to the Lakers. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was all praise for the youngster.

“He’s only 18 years old, but he seems like he’s been in this league before,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “He did it all tonight. He had the ball. You can call it point guard or whatever, but he ran the offense for us. He drove the ball. The ball touched the paint. He got to the rim, got to the free throw line, stepped up and made free throws for us late. Just his composure on both ends [was impressive]. He competes at a very high level. You saw that tonight, but you saw that last night, too.”

LeBron James is the only other 18-year-old to score 35 points in an NBA game, having done so twice as a rookie for the Cleveland Cavaliers in December 2023.

Flagg said Kidd has told him to play aggressively on the court and the advice is working fine for him.

“Being aggressive right now is obviously right for me, and that’s what Coach has stressed to me,” said Flagg, who also had eight rebounds and two assists in 38 minutes. “I’ve got to be aggressive, and we’ll live with some of the mistakes, but you just have to be aggressive and trust all the work. My teammates are extremely confident in me, and I feel that. And when they’re confident in me, it enables me to just be free up there.”

Klay Thompson, a former Golden State Warriors’ player, also showered praise on Cooper Flagg.

“Cooper’s upside is limitless,” Mavs shooting guard Klay Thompson said. “He has every tool to be great. Sometimes I can’t believe he should be a freshman in college.”

The Mavericks will next take on the Denver Nuggets on Monday.