The Los Angeles Lakers have been rolling lately.
With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves playing out of their minds and LeBron James embracing his role as a No. 3 scoring option following his 14-game absence from sciatica, the Lakers are among the league’s early-season contenders.
Still, that doesn’t change the fact that Los Angeles had their work cut out for them on Friday night. While the ascending Western Conference franchise has a better all-around roster than the Dallas Mavericks, it was still tasked with slowing down Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg.
The Lakers kept Davis in check all night, limiting him to 12 points and five assists in 28 minutes. Likewise, Los Angeles was solid while defending Flagg, only surrendering 13 points to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
However, Flagg finished the Mavericks’ 10-point loss to the Lakers with 11 assists, enabling him to break an impressive 22-year-old record set by James.
“Cooper Flagg becomes the youngest player (18 years and 343 days) in NBA history to record 10+ assists in a game (James set the record in 2003 when he was 18 years and 355 days old),” Real Sports stated on X/Twitter after the Lakers’ 129-119 win.
Sometimes teams have to tip their cap to an opposing player who dominated in a specific area. The Lakers didn’t allow Flagg to have his way as a dynamic off-the-dribble scorer, but the Duke product was able to find open teammates on the move regularly.
Still, it wasn’t enough to propel the Mavericks to a pivotal road victory, which should help the Lakers feel better about their flawed defense on one of the most exciting young players in the NBA.
That said, when Los Angeles faces Dallas again on Jan. 24, they should prioritize making Flagg more uncomfortable from a playmaking standpoint/distributing standpoint.
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