-
Tim McMahon
multiple authors
DALLAS–THIS WAS A NIGHT cooper flag The stats he’ll talk about with his former Duke roommate Con Knuppel For decades.
That’s probably true for almost everyone at American Airlines Center who watched Thursday night’s thrilling showdown in the first NBA meeting between the Rookie of the Year front-runners.
Flagg, the No. 1 pick, had 49 points, the most by a teenager in NBA history, breaking dallas mavericks‘ The rookie record he shares with Mark Aguirre, whose number 24 was retired in a halftime ceremony during the game.
But Knueppel, the No. 4 pick, finished with 34 points and made key plays in the final minutes to help. charlotte hornets earn one 123-121 The win, their fifth consecutive win. He forced a turnover by the flag with 7.6 seconds remaining and hit the winning free throw after drawing a foul on his friend in transition.
Flagg’s hard-fought jumper bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer.
“Just a crazy end to a phenomenal game,” Knueppel said. “He was the best player on the field tonight. Probably, I mean, he’s the best player that we’ve played against us all season. It’s fun to compete against the best, and obviously, being close with him increases the competitiveness. So, it was really fun.”
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Flagg (-400) and Knueppel (+280) entered the night with the best odds to win Rookie of the Year, creating a unique buzz about a late January game between two teams below .500. Flagg and Knueppel lived up to expectations by becoming the first pair of college teammates to score at least 30 points playing against each other as rookies.
According to ESPN Research, their combined 83 points are the most by a rookie duo in a game since Tiny Archibald and Pete Maravich’s combined 91 points in 1971.
“It’s unbelievable,” Flagg said about competing with Knueppel for Rookie of the Year. “I wouldn’t want to be in any other position. We’ll both remember this night and this entire year for the rest of our lives, and we’ll keep talking about it and things like that. In general, it’s very special to have this opportunity.”
Knueppel hopes the flag’s record-setting performance will hurt his chances of winning that honor.
“We’d both like to win, but we don’t talk about it,” said Knueppel, who is averaging 18.9 points and has an effective field goal percentage of 61.1%, the best efficiency of a rookie who has scored that much. “I mean, it was an amazing game. I think he probably would have outshot me with 49 and 10. [rebounds]But it is what it is. A prize like that is nice, but I’d be happy for whoever gets it.
“Who knows? I’m glad we got the win. It means more to me than anything else.”
Knueppel, who was 10 of 16 from the floor, set a Hornets franchise rookie record with eight 3-pointers on 12 attempts. He scored his first three long-range tries in the opening four-plus minutes of the game.
“This is not good,” Flagg said, recalling his thoughts as Knueppel made his vigorous debut. “I played with him last year, and when he sees some easy guys coming in to start the game, it’s never a good thing. That’s what happens with a lot of great shooters. You never want to let him make open shots and start the game and get into a rhythm.”
Flagg, who passed Knueppel as the rookie scoring leader with 19.5 points per game, led the way with 23 points in the second quarter. By the end of the third they had 40 involved Lebron James And Anthony Edwards As the only teenager in NBA history to record multiple 40-point performances.
The stage was set for Flagg to end his spectacular run in storybook fashion. He hit a pull-up 3 with 33.5 seconds remaining to tie the score at 121-121 and got the defensive rebound on the ensuing possession. But the Hornets planned to prevent Flagg from being the hero, knocking the ball out of his hand as he dribbled several feet above the 3-point arc. Knueppel timed his double-team well, passing the flag and deflecting his fellow former Duke teammate sion james Saved the ball to Knueppel to start the fast break.
“It’s no surprise that our guy is slowly making the biggest plays of the game and continues to have an impact on wins,” said Hornets coach Charles Lee, who praised Knueppel’s defensive effort in the pregame. “[He had] The tendency to come in and double-team, given a situation where the floor is balanced in such a way that maybe this is the right place to bring the double. “A guy has 49 points, so obviously you want to try to slow him down, and force someone else to beat you at that point in the game.”
Flagg, the league’s youngest player at 19, took the blame for his poor performance in the game.
“I’m still trying to learn the end-of-game situations,” said Flagg, who swapped jerseys after the game with the Hornets rookie Liam McNeelyHis high school teammate at Montverde Academy. “I’m always trying to get better. It’s something I don’t want to say I struggle with, but I’ve seen a lot of double-teams and stuff, so I’m just figuring out how I can be effective in those moments. It should be a lot better.”
Flagg finished 20 of 29 from the floor, becoming the first rookie to make at least 20 field goals. milwaukeeBrandon Jennings had 21 points in a 55-point performance in November 2009. Flagg was 3-of-5 from 3-point range, but did most of his damage in the paint, where he scored 28 points.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd said, “He’s not about the numbers. He’s about the wins and losses.” “That’s the way he is. A young guy who thinks that way, he’s going to be a champion soon. He continues to work. He tried to get his team a win tonight.”
