Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg wasn’t able to step up for an injured Anthony Davis by leading his team to a win Saturday night in Mexico City.
Flagg recorded 16 points and eight rebounds in a 122-110 loss to Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons at Arena CDMX.
Flagg went 8-for-8 from the foul line, but just 3-for-14 from the field and 1-for-8 from two-point range in the loss.
The Mavericks rookie doesn’t turn 19 until December, and he was playing Saturday night in just his sixth NBA game.
The hype surrounding his selection at the top of the 2025 NBA draft still left some fans wondering both about Flagg’s readiness and Jason Kidd’s coaching.
The Pistons opened the game with a run of seven straight points before spending the first half trading the lead back and forth with the Mavs.
The Mavericks went into the fourth quarter leading by seven points, but Detroit finished out the game on a nine-point scoring streak to close out the comeback win.
Two of those points came on free throws after Flagg fouled Duren with just over a minute left in the game.
D’Angelo Russell, who was coming off the bench for a sixth straight game, led the Mavs in the loss with 31 points in just 30 minutes on the court.
Max Christie, Klay Thompson and Brandon Williams also contributed double-digit point totals in the loss.
The Pistons were meanwhile led by double-doubles from both Cunningham (21 points, 18 assists) and Jalen Duren (33 points, 10 rebounds).
The Mavericks fall to 2-4 on the season with the loss. The team will once more be without Davis, who the team announced Friday is sitting out at least two games with a left calf injury, for Sunday’s away game against the Houston Rockets.
The Mavs will hope to see more consistent offense from Flagg and another big game for Russell as the team waits for Davis’ return.
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