Rookie Cooper Flagg has 51-point night in Mavericks' loss - ESPN

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 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 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 record for most points by an NBA teenager, which he set Jan. 29 when he scored 49 points in a home loss to the Charlotte Hornets and 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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