The hottest ticket on the opening day of the NBA Las Vegas Summer League proved to be worth the hefty price of admission, as the Dallas Mavericks secured an 87-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in the debut of No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. The former Duke star finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists against Bronny James’ Lakers.
“It’s just a different game,” Flagg told the ESPN broadcast postgame. “Different pace, different feel, different spacing. Just a lot of adjustments, but we’ll be alright.”
Traditionally, the marquee game on the opening night of summer league features the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks from the draft playing against each other, but not this year. The NBA scheduled a matchup with Flagg squaring off against the son of the league’s all-time leading scorer, LeBron James.
The hype for this game was real. According to TickPick, tickets for Flagg’s summer league debut were the most expensive in the event’s history, with lower bowl seats selling for $650 and courtside tickets costing $2,500. Fans in attendance started lining up at 5:45 a.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Sin City to secure their spot.
Flagg received his “welcome to the NBA” moment just seconds into the game. After Dallas won the opening tip, he was blitzed by two defenders when trying to initiate the offense. He then missed his first two shots before throwing down a powerful one-handed dunk in transition for his first points.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Flagg would be getting reps during the summer league as the primary initiator and ball-handler. One of the biggest areas of improvement for Flagg during his lone season at Duke was his ability to create his own shot in a half-court setting. Despite shooting just 5 of 21 from the floor on Thursday and not making a field goal in the second half, Flagg routinely got to his spots.
With Flagg’s highly anticipated matchup with the younger James in the books, here are a few takeaways from the game.
Flagg will eventually find his shot
When looking at the box…
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