Nikola Jokić Praises Cooper Flagg After Rookie’s Big Game in Mavs’ Win Over Nuggets

Flagg had 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the Mavs’ close win.

Cooper Flagg had 33 poins in the Mavericks’ win over the Nuggets / Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Cooper Flagg has hit a groove. The top pick in this year’s NBA draft only turned 19 on Sunday, yet he’s already going toe-to-toe with some of the biggest stars across the league. And they are taking notice.

He had a near 30-point triple-double Tuesday, with 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a 131-130 Mavericks win over three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets. Jokić starred per usual, with 29 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and four steals against the Mavs, but forward Peyton Watson’s shot at the buzzer to win the game for Denver rimmed out and Dallas escaped with a narrow victory.

Following the tough defeat, Jokić heaped heavy praise on Flagg after the third 30-plus point game of his young career, nearly recording his first triple-double in the process.

"He was definitely a hot hand out there," Jokić said of Flagg postgame via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. "But just, I'm going to say the poise that he played with, he doesn't feel like he's so young out there. He seems like he played meaningful games and he was winning before. That's my opinion. He looked really mature out there."

Through 30 games, Flagg is averaging 19.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per night. His three-point shot is still a work in progress, connecting at a 26.7% clip from deep, but he went 4-for-6 on threes against Denver for the largest three-point total thus far over his first year. He went off for 42 points in an overtime loss to the Jazz on Dec. 15, a showing that made Flagg the only 18-year-old in NBA history to score 40 or more points in a game.

The Mavs are 12-19, but are playing better basketball as of late with seven wins in their past 11 games behind Flagg’s December breakout where he is scoring 24.1 points per game. The win against Denver was his best all around game thus far, which provided the Mavs’ best win of the season after a brutal start and chaos surrounding embattled general manager Nico Harrison’s firing.

Things are looking up for Dallas, though, behind the new face of its franchise. Even the best player in the world is impressed with how good Flagg is this soon.

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