Cooper Flagg returned to the Dallas Mavericks’ lineup for Thursday’s 115-114 loss to the Orlando Magic and quickly reached a milestone in his very young NBA career.
Flagg reached 1,000 career points on his first basket of the game, laying in a shot after rebounding a miss by Khris Middleton. That made him the second-youngest player to achieve quadruple figures in his NBA career, following LeBron James.
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James was 19 years and 41 days old when he reached 1,000 points during his rookie season of 2004. Flagg scored his milestone basket at the age of 19 years and 74 days.
The next youngest players to score 1,000 points were Kobe Bryant (19 years, 127 days), Kevin Durant (19 years, 146 days) and Devin Booker (19 years, 162 days).
Flagg, the 2025 No. 1 overall draft pick, finished with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks in his first appearance in the Mavericks’ past nine games, previously sidelined with a left mid-foot sprain. He gave Dallas a 4-point lead with 37.3 seconds remaining in regulation. After blocking Wendell Carter Jr.’s layup attempt, Flagg cut to the basket, drew a foul and made the basket for a 3-point play.
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Orlando quickly cut the deficit to 114-113 on a 3-pointer from Jalen Suggs and Flagg had an opportunity to extend the Mavericks’ lead again. But his pull-up jumper from 13 feet missed and Carter got the rebound. Streaking down the court, Suggs found him with an open path to the basket and a dunk with 1.4 seconds left. Dallas could not get off a shot with the time remaining.
Cooper Flagg was activated three hours before tip-off
Flagg was upgraded to doubtful for Dallas’ loss Tuesday to the Charlotte Hornets and was listed as questionable for the Magic game before the Mavericks confirmed he would play. Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters that Flagg would play 20 to 25 minutes versus Orlando before seeing an uptick in minutes Friday at the Boston Celtics, his favorite childhood team. He played 26 minutes against the Magic.
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The Mavericks won only two of the eight games they played without Flagg during this most recent injury. He also missed time this season with a sprained ankle and an illness.
Through 49 games this season, Flagg averaged 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. With 20 games remaining in the regular season, Dallas is 21-41.