‘He Looked Really Mature’: Nikola Jokić Praises Cooper Flagg After Dallas Mavericks Upset Denver Nuggets
The Dallas Mavericks upset the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday (12/23) behind a sensational performance from rookie Cooper Flagg, who thoroughly impressed three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.
Flagg put up 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in 40 minutes. The Duke product, who just turned 19, shot 14-of-21 from the field, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and a perfect 1-of-1 from the free-throw line.
“He was definitely a hot hand out there,” Nikola Jokić said about Cooper Flagg. “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.”
The Mavericks beat the Nuggets by a final score of 131-130 to improve to 12-19 on the season. Flagg and Co. are in 11th place in the Western Conference standings. They need to be a top-10 team to make the NBA play-in tournament.
Flagg will likely win the Rookie of the Year Award this season. He’s averaging 19.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
“Just having fun,” Flagg said. “I think I’m at my best when I’m just playing free and having fun. Just being confident. Trust the work, trust the reps.”
Mavericks fans will likely never forget about the Luka Dončić trade, but at least they have a new building block in Flagg, who is arguably the best American NBA rookie since LeBron James.
“It was the tough shots he made,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “Some of the 3s late in the clock. He got to his spots. I thought Bruce [Brown] really fought him the second half and he still made some really tough shots in key moments. He’s very impressive, man. … Sometimes it doesn’t matter when a really good player can make shots over the top, and that’s what he did.”
The Mavericks are back in action on Christmas when they take on the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center.
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