Rookie Cooper Flagg breaks NBA record with 49 points

At 19, Cooper Flagg became the youngest player ever to score 49 points in an NBA game on Thursday, in the Dallas Mavericks' 123-121 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

Here are the main highlights from an eight-game slate in the NBA:

Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, wowed Thursday with a performance never before seen in the NBA.

At just 19 years and 39 days, the power forward scored 49 points against the Hornets, a figure that no player before his 20th birthday had ever achieved.

The highest scoring totals by players under 20 were held by Cliff Robinson, who scored 45 points in 1980, followed by GG Jackson (44 in 2024) and LeBron James (43 in 2004).

In December, Flagg had already emerged as the first 18-year-old player to score 42 points, a figure that matched the record for a Mavericks rookie, held by Mark Aguirre.

Curiously, Flagg claimed the scoring record for a Dallas rookie on the very same night the Mavericks retired Aguirre’s No. 24 jersey.

The potential that Flagg is showing in his debut season serves as a consolation to Texans fans, still under the impact of the incomprehensible sale one year ago of their idol Luka Doncic to the Lakers.

All in all, the night ended bittersweet for the young phenom from Dallas, who eventually surrendered the win to Charlotte in a fast-paced game with another rookie, his former college teammate Kon Knueppel.

The shooting guard, who shared a locker room with Flagg at Duke, also sealed his freshman year best with 28 points and eight 3-pointers.

Flagg came close to crowning his display by converting a three-pointer to tie the score at 121 with 33 seconds left.

In that span, however, the rookie lost a fumble, committed a personal foul on Knueppel and missed a very forced last shot at the buzzer.

Sixers, threat in the East

Elsewhere, the Philadelphia 76ers knocked off the Sacramento Kings 113-111 on the strength of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, who combined to score 77 points.

Maxey was the top star as he tallied 40 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds and came up with the winning basket.

Embiid channeled the rest of Philadelphia's offense, with 37 points and 8 assists, and along with Maxey was responsible for his team's final 19 points.

The Cameroonian center handed the initiative to his young teammate on the decisive play, when the scoreboard pointed to a 111-all tie with five seconds on the clock.

In a textbook play, Embiid took an inbounds pass beyond the three-point line and handed the ball off to Maxey in stride, who drove to the basket and scored the game-winning layup.

Tribute to John Wall

In Washington, the Wizards paid tribute to the retired John Wall in a 109-99 win against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The visitors were without the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose figure is the focus of NBA attention because of a possible trade before the market closes on Feb. 5.

The victory by the capital team, second-to-last in the East, added luster to a night in which they paid tribute to John Wall, one of the best players in their recent history.

The retired point guard, a five-time All-Star, led Washington from 2010-2019 before his career plummeted as he suffered several serious injuries.