Cooper Flagg Draws Early MVP Buzz for Leading Mavericks to Win Over Miami Heat

After the first week of the season, the Dallas Mavericks have a 2-2 record, which is better than many people predicted for them, given how tough their schedule is.

Monday night's win against the Miami Heat, who are now 0-4, put the Mavericks back at .500, and it was Cooper Flagg leading the way down the stretch to push the Mavericks across the finish line.

Flagg was productive throughout the game, finishing with a crazy 29 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 blocks, shooting 12/23 from the field and 2/8 from three. The only real knock on his performance was the turnovers, as he had five, including two charges late in the fourth quarter.

12 of his 29 points came in the fourth, though. In the final minute, he blocked a potential game-tying three-point attempt from Andrew Wiggins in the corner, then, on the ensuing offensive possession, beat Wiggins to the right, contorted his body to the left, and finished with the left while getting hit by Giannis Antetokounmpo. That put the Mavs up by four with 10 seconds to play.

Mind you, he just missed a game due to a left shoulder injury and was initially questionable entering the game because of it.

It's the first time a teenager has had 25+ points, 10+ assists, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ steals in a game in NBA history.

That performance against a talented frontcourt of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo has people noticing.

Yahoo! Sports' Kevin O'Connor said after the game that it was an "MVP type of performance," even if it's far too early to talk awards.

Any award talk for Cooper Flagg, including All-Star and All-NBA, will come down to how much success the Mavericks have throughout the year. Being 2-2 is fine right now, and they might be able to beat the OKC Thunder on Wednesday, who have had a brutal stretch of injuries already, but they'll need to win more as the season progresses.

It's still a first-time NBA coach with Dusty May, Cooper Flagg is still only in his second season, and they have a few guys who haven't played yet because of injury.

In the two-and-a-half games that Flagg has played, he's averaged 25.0 PPG, 6.3 APG, 5.3 RPG, 3.7 SPG, and 1.7 BPG. While some of the defensive numbers might regress to the mean at some point, those numbers are pretty crazy already, especially considering that he didn't play in the second half against the Indiana Pacers after the unnecessary foul from Aaron Nesmith.

Flagg looks very comfortable with the ball in his hands, and even if the three-point shot isn't that efficient right now, he's much more confident taking the shot than he was last year, and it looks much smoother.

If that starts to fall more consistently, there is no limit to how good Cooper Flagg could be, even if MVP talk in season two might be a little premature.

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