Maine’s Cooper Flagg on Fire: Back-to-Back Explosions Shake Up Rookie of the Year Race

This is getting rather insane. Cooper Flagg is making quite the end-of-season statement.

Following an incredible 51-point, record-setting performance Friday night, the Newport, Maine native was right back at it Sunday night with another monster game.

Cooper Flagg Scores Over 45 Points in Second Straight Game

Flagg went for 45 points in a 134–128 win over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. “The Maine Event” nearly recorded his first triple-double in the win, finishing with eight rebounds and nine assists. Talk about being on a heater.

This comes at an ideal time for Flagg, who is in a heated battle for Rookie of the Year with former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel. Both players have essentially been going head-to-head for the award since the beginning of the season. In fact, after Flagg’s second 45-plus scoring game in a row, his odds of winning have now surpassed those of his former teammate.

Clearly, Flagg is everything—and more—than what was advertised to teams. The phenom is having the kind of season every Dallas Mavericks fan dreamed of. And even though Dallas has officially been eliminated from playoff contention, Flagg is clearly not slowing down one bit.

Flagg has done just about everything so far this season. He’s been the unquestioned leader, often playing multiple positions—including point guard—because of consistent holes in the roster. That’s a lot to ask of any young player, and asking a 19-year-old rookie to take on that role speaks volumes.

Currently, Flagg leads the team in scoring (20.8 points per game, which also ranks in the top 25 in the league), ranks third in rebounding (6.6), second in assists (4.5), and first in steals (1.2). Those numbers have continued to improve throughout the season, which is evident when looking at his performance over the past few months.

Will Cooper Flagg Win the Rookie of the Year?

The Rookie of the Year battle is going to go down to the wire. With just a handful of games left for both players, it will be fun to watch Flagg and Knueppel go blow for blow.

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Can Cooper keep this scoring up over the final four games? That would be absolutely epic. Either way, what an incredible year it has been for the kid from Maine.