Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg reflected on the team’s effort after Saturday’s 113-107 defeat to the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. “We just didn’t come out with great energy. Our starter guys gotta be better without getting us off to a better start. Me included, obviously had a…terrible first half,” Flagg admitted.
The young forward acknowledged the impact of the schedule and travel on performance. “It’s different…It’s my first time not being at home for Christmas and being with my whole family. So that’s a little different, but you just gotta find ways to play through it.”
Flagg discussed the team’s late-game push. “We were making runs all game. But the problem was we just weren’t getting the stops to back the runs…We got a couple of stops, sharing a couple of sides together down the stretch, and we’re able to give ourselves a little bit of a chance.”
He was candid about turnovers and the overall approach. “We can’t expect to win digging ourselves a hole like that and having 20 turnovers. It’s just not a winning formula.”
The rookie also addressed the mental and physical toll of professional basketball. “I’m a little tired for sure…33 games, that’s pretty much as many games I played the whole season last year…It’s a lot more mentally tiring and physically as well, but I’ll say the mental part is the biggest change.”
Flagg emphasized the importance of staying aggressive. “I feel confident…Had a really bad start to the game first half, so I’m just keen to stay aggressive, get myself involved, and got hot. We always want to play to the high end, whoever it is.”
Reflecting on playing against Russell Westbrook, Flagg praised the veteran’s sustained level of competition. “It’s incredible. He’s a great player still…Competes at such a high level, both sides of the ball, just playing at a really high level.”
Finally, Flagg described his halftime mindset. “It’s just a combination of things…just resetting, coming back in here and knowing I gotta be a lot better and reflecting…sometimes all it takes is somebody saying something or just kind of having a mental reset and then going back out and continuing to compete.”
Sacramento capitalized on timely shooting, with Westbrook and Keon Ellis each scoring 21 points, while Maxime Raynaud added 19. Dallas cut the deficit to 111-107 in the final seconds, but DeMar DeRozan’s free throws sealed the win. Cooper Flagg led Dallas with 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists, though five turnovers proved costly.
Dallas fell to 21-21, dropping four of its last five games, while Sacramento improved to 8-23 and extended its winning streak over the Mavericks to four consecutive meetings.
