Cooper Flagg didn't wilt without Anthony Davis and now Mavs hope they flourish together

Flagg knew his NBA career would start without help on the court from star guard Kyrie Irving, who is recovering from an ACL tear last March. The 18-year-old former Duke standout also had to persevere for a month without Davis, who was sidelined with a left calf strain.

A loss in Davis' return at the Los Angeles Lakers last week dropped the Mavericks to 5-15, but they won a night later without him before consecutive victories over Denver and the Heat, two teams that should be playoff contenders.

“When you talk about the stars, he didn’t have the two stars on the floor, so he had to endure the best wing defender, and I thought he did an incredible job," coach Jason Kidd said. “When you look at the clutch situations, he responded in a positive way. For an 18-year-old to be leaned on without AD or Kai out there, I thought he responded in a positive way.”

While Davis was out, Flagg found himself in the company of LeBron James a couple of times.

In a 118-115 victory over New Orleans last month, Flagg had 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists. James is the only other player with at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game as an 18-year-old.

With Davis resting on the second night of a back-to-back in a 114-110 victory at the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to score 35 points. He and James are the only 18-year-olds with 30-point games.

“I think I learned a lot throughout that period, and as a team I think we learned a lot as well,” Flagg said. “Obviously it wasn’t the start we were looking for or hoping to have, but I think it’ll give us a lot of gratitude moving forward. If we can find success and we can think back to a really rocky start, I think I grew a lot in that time period as well.”

Flagg was 9 of 13 from the field and led Dallas with 22 points against the Heat, and is shooting 57% in the four games since Davis returned. They did get five games together to start the season, but Flagg wasn't quite as assertive then.

Four-time champion and 13-year veteran Klay Thompson has come out of a shooting slump recently, which also has helped ease the burden on Flagg.

Thompson scored 17 points in his relatively new role off the bench against the Heat, and Davis had 17 points and 17 rebounds.

“It’s so much better for us when he’s out there,” Flagg said about Davis. “I think just between him and Klay on the court at the same time, the amount of gravity that those two guys have of just pulling defenses toward them and just creating space out there, it’s huge for me.”

It's far from a guarantee that Davis can stay healthy, with him missing more games than he has played since the oft-injured forward was acquired in the much-criticized trade that sent superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers last February.

If Davis stays on the court, Flagg will have part of the formula the Mavs envisioned with title-winning vets easing his transition to the NBA after he essentially turned pro a year earlier than other one-and-done college stars. And that's not even including Irving, who presumably could return sometime after Jan. 1.

“You’re going to have to put your best defender on someone and so most of the time that’s AD,” Kidd said. “So he gets the secondary defender and for him, it’s his ability to get to the paint, but also to be able to play off AD, where he doesn’t have to do everything like he did here early on, where we were asking him to be the point guard, score, defend, do everything, which he’s not afraid of doing, but now he has some help.”

Davis illustrated it by combining with Flagg to score the final eight Dallas points to stop a Miami rally close out the Heat.

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