Sports

Mavericks' Cooper Flagg reacts to summer league debut: 'Not up to my standard'

Cooper Flagg made his long-awaited debut in the NBA Summer League on Thursday, helping the Dallas Mavericks to a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Flagg produced 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and one blocked shot in the 87-85 win at the Thomas & Mack Center. He finished by shooting 5 of 21 from the field, including 0 of 5 from 3-point range, in 31 minutes of action.

The No. 1 pick scored all 10 points in the first half to help lead the Mavericks alongside rookie Ryan Nembhard, who had 12 of his team-high 21 points at the intermission. Flagg wasn’t pleased with his performance, but was happy to walk away with the win.

“Not up to my standard,” Flagg told Katie George of ESPN after the game. “I’m going to regroup. I’m going to be all right. It is a new feeling, new environment (and) new teammates, but the guys held it down. Miles (Kelly) and Ryan were amazing tonight; Max (Lewis). They were great tonight. They had my back. I didn’t have my best game, but I’m going to just keep growing going forward.”

Though the No. 1 pick struggled to make shots, Flagg had flashes of brilliance on the court. After missing his first two attempts to start the game, Flagg responded by converting a forced turnover into an emphatic one-handed slam dunk.

In the next quarter, Flagg earned his only trip to the free-throw line after finishing through contact to draw the And-1 attempt. He even hit an 18-foot turnaround jump shot over Bronny James, who finished with eight points and was matched up with Flagg on a few occasions.

Flagg came up with a clutch sequence late in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Mavericks after rotating over to swat away a shot by DJ Steward. He then led the break to find an open Nembhard for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1 minute, 2 seconds left.

The Mavericks allowed Flagg to log substantial minutes and appeared to be comfortable with him playing in longer stretches on the court. The team wants to experiment with him as the point guard, which the 18-year-old appeared to handle well after finishing with only one turnover.

“I think Cooper has done an incredible job with all of the minutes,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd told Malika Andrews of ESPN at halftime. “He has handled the ball. He has gotten wide-open shots for teammates. He has finished. I think you’ve seen a lot of what he can do in this league.”

Entering their stint in the desert, Mavericks summer league coach Josh Broghamer said the team would monitor Flagg throughout the 11-day competition to determine his game availability. They will continue evaluating the schedule following the opener and take a day-by-day approach.

After defeating the Lakers, Flagg and the Mavericks return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT against the San Antonio Spurs, who hope to have No. 2 pick Dylan Harper available (groin). Flagg will aim to improve upon his debut and help the team secure another win.

This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Mavericks news: Cooper Flagg reacts to NBA Summer League debut

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