Instant Reactions: Cooper Flagg scores 45 points leads Mavericks past LeBron James’ Lakers

Cooper Flagg ran down the court on the Mavericks’ opening possession and saw Jake LaRavia guarding him.

The Los Angeles Lakers forward was inserted into the starting lineup with Austin Reaves, former Maverick Luka Doncic and Dallas-area native Marcus Smart all out.

On a fast break, Flagg blew through the yellow jerseys before attacking the rim, scoring the basket and drawing the foul. Flagg scored 19 of his 45 points in the first quarter to help the Mavericks build an early lead.

Flagg was coming off a 51-point performance in which he became the first teenager in NBA history to score 50 or more points in a game.

Those two elite performances came just days after ESPN released its straw poll, where more than 80 journalists gave first-place votes to Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel in the NBA Rookie of the Year race. Flagg received the remaining 20 first-place votes. The straw poll is usually a strong indicator of who will win the NBA’s end-of-season awards.

But the odds stacked against Flagg did not discourage his play.

He had 45 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in a 134-128 win against the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center on Sunday night.