Southwest Notes: Flagg, Washington, Morant, Vassell

Cooper Flagg made history for the Mavs in back-to-back nights, writes Tim MacMahon for ESPN.

Two days after becoming the youngest player to record a game with 10 or more assists, he became the youngest player to score 35 points in a game, sneaking the record in five days earlier than LeBron James accomplished the same feat in 2003.

To make the achievement even better, for a Mavericks team that has struggled to start the season, the effort came in a win.

“He’s only 18 years old, but he seems like he’s been in this league before,” coach Jason Kidd said. “You can call it point guard or whatever, but he ran the offense for us. He drove the ball. The ball touched the paint. He got to the rim, got to the free throw line, stepped up and made free throws for us late.”

Klay Thompson, who had one of his best games of the season in the win, spoke highly of Flagg following the game.

“Cooper’s upside is limitless,” Thompson said. “He has every tool to be great. Sometimes I can’t believe he should be a freshman in college.”

Thompson also threw out a lofty comparison to his situation in relation to Flagg, according to The Athletic’s Christian Clark, making reference to the Lakers in the first year of Kobe Bryant’s career.

“I feel like [Byron Scott] sometimes,” Thompson said. “The old, wise veteran. The future of the franchise to my side. It’s pretty cool to be a part of it. To be witnesses to what he’s going to do for a long time.”

We have more from around the Southwest Division:

• P.J. Washington missed the Mavs‘ win as a late scratch due to a right ankle sprain suffered when he slipped on a ball during warmups, Mike Clark writes for the Dallas Morning News. He was initially listed as questionable to return, but was ruled out around the end of the first quarter. His status for Dallas’ upcoming three-game road trip is unclear.
• Ja Morant will be re-evaluated next week, once the Grizzlies return to Memphis on Tuesday following their four-game road trip, tweets Michael Wallace of Grind City Media. This update is in line with the expected timeline of return placed on Morant when he initially was diagnosed with the calf strain. Wallace notes that Morant is currently engaged in light on-court warmup work.
• Devin Vassell has been on a tear of late, scoring the most points over the last two Spurs games than in any other two-game stretch of his career, writes Jeff McDonald for the San Antonio Express-News. That culminated with a 35-point explosion in a win against the Nuggets on Friday night, in which his teammates were well aware of the zone he was in. “[Keldon Johnson] told me in the last two minutes if the ball comes to me, don’t think,” Vassell said. “Just be aggressive and shoot.” It wasn’t just the scoring that impressed head coach Mitch Johnson, though, but also his intensity on the other end, which hasn’t always been there, given the team situation Vassell was drafted into. “He’s becoming a winning player,” Johnson said. “We’ve got our arm around him and our foot up his backside to continue to do it. He’s a difference maker when he does that.”