Mavs' Flagg, 19, is youngest to have 50-pt game

DALLAS -- A smattering of boos broke out at the American Airlines Center on Friday, when Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Frank Vogel, filling in for Jason Kidd after the head coach's earlier ejection, took out rookie Cooper Flagg with 3 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Mavs trailed the Orlando Magic by 17 points at the time, and Dallas' 53rd loss of the season essentially sealed. But the home crowd wanted to watch Flagg pursue history, as he was only five points shy of becoming the youngest player in NBA history to hit the 50-point milestone.

The fans, at least those who remained in the stands, got their wish. As planned, Vogel called timeout after the next possession, giving Flagg a brief breather before the No. 1 overall pick returned to the floor. He hit his career-best sixth 3-pointer less than a minute later and made the milestone bucket on an off-dribble, and-1 turnaround jumper in the paint with 2:05 remaining.

Flagg made the free throw, finishing with 51 points on 19-of-30 shooting in the 138-127 loss to the Magic. That broke his own record for an NBA teenager of 49, set in a Jan. 29 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets, when Flagg had a memorable shootout with his former Duke roommate and primary Rookie of the Year competition Kon Knueppel.

"It's always fun getting into that type of mode," said Flagg, who scored 24 of his 51 in the fourth quarter. "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. It's hard for me to fully enjoy myself out there when we're down 20, down 10, down 15 for the majority of the game."

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Flagg's frustration boiled over early in the fourth quarter after the officiating crew didn't blow the whistle when Orlando guard Desmond Bane shoved him in the back on a drive into the paint, creating a turnover. Flagg immediately and angrily approached referee Sean Corbin to argue the no-call and was called for the second technical foul of his career for addressing the official "disrespectfully with profanity," crew chief Justin Van Duyne told a pool reporter.

At that point, Kidd stormed onto the court to confront the officials and also received a technical. He was ejected after only one technical because he was "shouting multiple personal profanities and would not go back to the sideline," Van Duyne said.

Mavs forward Naji Marshall received his second technical foul of the second five seconds later for "continued profanity directed at the official from the bench" and was also ejected.

"I think it was warranted. I'm not going to lie," Flagg said of the Mavs' reactions to the no-call. "I mean, I talked to Bane after the play. He told me he was intentionally trying to foul me, and so I honestly don't know how three of them [officials] out there didn't see that. I mean, obviously he must not have had the right view or they weren't paying attention, but they missed it. So I think that type of reaction is warranted, because there's not really an excuse."

Kidd, who has complained on multiple occasions about his prized rookie not getting respect from referees, said he felt like it was necessary to take a stand in this instance.

"We're a family," Kidd said. "We have to protect one another and understand just the way the game was being officiated was below average."

Kidd retreated to his office after being ejected and soon relocated to the locker room to watch the rest of the game with Marshall and forward P.J. Washington, who sat out due to an illness. They witnessed Flagg go on a scoring flurry of 24 points in less than eight minutes, starting with a spectacular driving dunk over Orlando star Paolo Banchero.

At 19 years, 103 days old, Flagg became the ninth rookie in NBA history with a 50-point performance. Former Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings (20 years, 52 days) had been the youngest before him. The rest of the rookies to score 50 in the game have all been inducted into the Hall of Fame: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Elvin Hayes, Allen Iverson, George Mikan and Earl Monroe.

"It's an honor to be part of history!" Mavs guard Klay Thompson, a future Hall of Famer, hollered in the locker room.

Flagg joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to have multiple 45-point performances as rookies.

"He should be Rookie of the Year. It's unbelievable," Kidd said. "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."

As Kidd alluded to, Knueppel is considered the Rookie of the Year front-runner. A straw poll of likely voters conducted by ESPN's Tim Bontemps this week had Knueppel getting 80 first-place votes with the other 20 going to Flagg.

Knueppel has been a critical element of the 41-36 Hornets' midseason turnaround, averaging 18.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He has shattered the rookie record for 3s made with a league-leading 261 while shooting 43.1% from long range.

Flagg is on the verge of joining Larry Bird, Jordan and ex-Maverick Luka Doncic as the only rookies since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976-77 to average at least 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists per game. He is averaging 20.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the 24-53 Mavs.

"It is what it is," Flagg said regarding the Rookie of the Year race. "For me, like I've said before, it's just about getting better every single day. I know what I'm capable of and what I can do. So for me, it's always been about just improving every night, going out there, competing, being the player that I know I can be, and I'll let all the rest of the stuff figure it out."

Does Flagg think his 51-point performance could sway some voters?

"I'm not sure," Flagg said. "I would hope it would help, but like I said, I'm not going to worry about that. I'm going to worry about just getting better every single night and trying to look at a big picture and start building towards something."