Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points, dropping 51 in a 138-127 loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday night. The 19-year-old No. 1 pick from the 2025 draft shot 19 of 30 from the field and 6 of 9 from three-point range. His performance has intensified the race for NBA Rookie of the Year against Charlotte Hornets' Kon Knueppel.
Cooper Flagg poured in 51 points against the Orlando Magic, including 24 in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks trailed by as much as 30. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was ejected, leaving assistant Frank Vogel in charge. Vogel briefly pulled Flagg with 45 points and the team down by 17 under four minutes left, drawing boos from the Dallas crowd. Flagg returned and added six more points to reach 51, shooting 63.3% from the field and a season-high 6 of 9 from beyond the arc despite a 29.3% season mark from three-point range. His 51 made him the youngest ever to hit 50, surpassing Brandon Jennings' mark at age 20 in 2009, and only the third rookie since the 1976 ABA-NBA merger, joining Jennings and Allen Iverson, to achieve the feat. Flagg has three 40-point games this season, trailing only Michael Jordan and Iverson among rookies since the merger. Flagg said after the game, 'It's always fun getting into that type of mode. The basket feels big. Your teammates are looking out for you, helping you out. But I love to win, so that was my main focus.' Kidd praised him, saying, 'He should be Rookie of the Year. It's unbelievable. The country is not watching the same thing that we get to watch on a daily basis. The things that he's done, he's in rare air. He's with the GOAT when you talk about MJ and what he did in his rookie year -- and as a teenager.' The outburst has narrowed the Rookie of the Year gap with former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets. Knueppel leads betting odds at -350 to Flagg's +250, averaging 18.8 points on 48.3% field goal and 43.1% three-point shooting, helping the Hornets to 42 wins against Dallas' 24. Flagg leads the Mavericks in points, rebounds, assists and steals, finishing at the rim at 68%, better than Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell per Cleaning the Glass stats.
