Celtics fans usually reserve their boos and let them rain down with a fury when an opponent’s starting lineup is introduced at TD Garden.
On Friday night, they made an exception for Cooper Flagg.
Flagg, the 19-year-old Maine native who grew up rooting for the Celtics and was taken No. 1 overall by the Mavericks in last year’s NBA draft, received a loud eruption of cheers from the Boston faithful when his name was called out prior to his first professional game on the famed parquet. It was a homecoming for Flagg, who had plenty of family and friends make the trip down from Maine to be in the stands.
“It meant a lot,” Flagg said. “Tried to take a moment to take a deep breath and take it all in. It’s a dream come true. Being out there on that court competing and playing at a high level is really special.”
The nice ovation for Flagg caught Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd by surprise.
“That was incredible,” Kidd said. “I’ve never heard a road player get a cheer like that, especially here in Boston. They tend to go the other way. But I think that just shows the appreciation they have for Coop and who he is today and who he will be as his journey goes forward. I think he appreciated that and it’s nice to hear some cheers for a road team in Boston.”
The matchup against the Celtics in Boston was unlike any of Flagg’s first 50 games in the NBA, and the Mavs didn’t diminish the importance of it to the teenage star.
Flagg idolized the Celtics as a kid and looked up to Jayson Tatum, with whom he shared the spotlight Friday as Tatum made his return to the court for the first time since rupturing his Achilles last May. Flagg’s mother, Kelly, made sure her son was influenced by the Celtics as he honed his skills by making him watch tapes of the 1986 Celtics championship team.
Flagg, who starred at Duke for one season like Tatum, ended up developing into what many consider is the most touted basketball prospect from Maine, a state that rarely produces NBA talent.
“This young man handles the big stage like no one I’ve seen,” Kidd said. “I thought he did great.”
Flagg’s first pro game in Boston didn’t resemble his first showing against the Celtics this season, which came last month in Dallas and yielded a monster 36-point, nine-rebound, six-assist and two-block performance.
The output from the 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward on Friday was much more run-of-the-mill as he netted 16 points on an inefficient 7-for-23 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and six assists in 30 minutes. It was just Flagg’s second game back after an eight-game absence due to a left midfoot sprain, and it came on a back-to-back.
Flagg’s outing almost looked like it would come to an abrupt end after he came up hobbled following a hard drive to the basket in which he drew a foul on Celtics center Neemias Queta less than five minutes into the first quarter. Flagg clutched at his left leg while down on the floor and then gingerly walked to the free-throw line before bending over for several seconds. The Mavericks called a timeout to give him an additional breather and he stayed in the game.
While Flagg’s stat line wasn’t eye-popping, the heavy workload he assumes for a 21-42 Mavericks team headed for the lottery is attention-getting. Flagg dictates the Mavericks’ offense with a large majority of the team’s sets run through him as he acts as Dallas’ point-forward, a role that caused some blowback on Kidd for not allowing Flagg to settle into his NBA career with less responsibility.
But it shows the trust Kidd has in Flagg and the all-around skillset that made him such a coveted prospect.
“He puts a lot of pressure on a defense,” Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser said at morning shootaround. “He can really get downhill and get to the lane, super athletic, finishing at the rim, dunking, whatever it may be. He can handle the ball, play in pick-and-roll, make the right read. So he poses a lot of different threats, and he gave us some trouble the first time around.”
Flagg showed the promise the Mavericks are banking on and the youthfulness any NBA rookie exhibits against the Celtics. One of his better buckets of the night came right after Tatum scored his first points on the season on a put-back dunk.
Flagg answered with a tough floater in the lane with Queta right in his face. But when Tatum drilled a 3-pointer on the ensuing trip down the floor which sent Celtics fans into a frenzy, Flagg tried to respond again, but this time his attempt from beyond the arc — he was 0-for-4 from deep — was nowhere close.
Flagg also had three turnovers and finished with a minus-17 rating. But the stats really were secondary for Flagg on this particular night, and he looks forward to trips to Boston in the future.
“It was incredible to be able to play here,” Flagg said. “It’s obviously a place I came as a kid and got to watch. I think it’s going to be incredibly fun for the rest of my career to be able to come here and play in front of this crowd.”
