Dallas’ Cooper Flagg continues to raise the bar.
The second-year NBA sensation will enter the Mavericks’ game against the visiting Indiana Pacers on Monday night fresh off a personal-best performance in assists and one of the finest 3-point-shooting displays of his burgeoning career.
Flagg paired 25 points with 12 assists, while backcourt partner Kyrie Irving added 21 points, as Dallas trounced the Brooklyn Nets 130-93 on Sunday.
New Mavericks coach Dusty May knew he was inheriting an elite passer when he took the job in June, but Flagg, 19, has only gotten better in that area.
“That was the first thing that impressed me when I studied him and watched,” May said. “I was shocked at how good a passer he was and what type of court vision (he has). He’s getting incrementally better, he’s putting in the time. … He’s not always going to play great each and every night, but he’s such a competitor, he’s going to play hard. And the majority of the games, he’s going to be able to perform like he did (Sunday).
“His court vision, (and) his unselfishness lends itself to having a lot of games like this. … He made some really, really nice plays, good decisions.”
Flagg also made strides from 3-point range, converting 3 of 5 shots against Brooklyn, after he managed just an 8-for-37 showing over his first eight games of the season.
Flagg shot only 29.5% from long range as a rookie last season but said he isn’t concerned about that stat, confident the work he’s put in will yield results this season.
“My 3-point percentage obviously hasn’t been great,” he said. “But I still trust myself, I think my teammates trust me, my coaches, so I’m going to keep shooting it. I worked on it all summer, I worked on it all last year, so I’m not worried about anything.”
Containing Flagg will be a priority for the Pacers, who are back in the United States after their 114-102 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Mexico City on Saturday.
Indiana looked sluggish in the high altitude early before figuring it out in the second half. The Pacers trailed 64-41 at intermission before outscoring Denver 61-50 across the last two quarters.
The Pacers’ Pascal Siakam, who scored 23 points, said he wants his side to use the urgency it showed in the second half as the template moving forward.
“Obviously (Mexico City is) a tough environment; if you’re not used to this altitude and everything, it’s hard to get going,” Siakam said. “The first half was pretty tough for us. I thought we had some good shots but didn’t make them, which doesn’t help. I thought our force and energy was way better in the second half, and that’s the way we’ve got to start the game.”
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton is set to miss his seventh straight game with a hamstring injury, with no timetable to return, while T.J. McConnell (hamstring) also is questionable for Monday’s game.
Dallas defeated Indiana 121-105 on Oct. 23 and won both meetings last season.
