Cooper Flagg is giving the Mavericks an answer to last season’s glaring clutch woes

Despite playing the most amount of clutch games last season, the Dallas Mavericks ranked 23rd in the league in winning percentage in clutch games at only 37.8 percent. However, Cooper Flagg is poised to turn this around this season, as he single-handedly closed out the Miami Heat with 12 fourth-quarter points on Monday night to catapult the Mavericks to a 113-109 win.

Don't get it twisted, Flagg was still very solid in the clutch last season, but he often was the lead ball handler down the stretch and struggled to make plays in the waning moments of games as defenses keyed in and double-teamed him. With Kyrie Irving and other viable shot creators in the lineup this season, though, defenses can't focus all their energy on Flagg late in the game, and his relentless attack mentality and conditioning shone through when it mattered most against Miami.

Cooper Flagg willed Dallas to victory in a tough clutch game

While the Heat have a myriad of offensive problems to solve and are off to a 0-4 start, they were hungry as ever to get their first win on their home court on Monday, and they still have very elite defensive personnel. Irving was unable to get going in this game, but Flagg completely took over in the fourth quarter and carried Dallas home.

He had multiple angle cuts where Mavericks ball handlers found him in stride as he was running full-speed toward the rim for very tough finishes, and even hit a pull-up 3-pointer in a late shot-clock scenario late in the game against the Heat. With Dallas up 111-109 and the Heat having the ball late in the game, he made an almost impossible closeout to block what initially appeared to be a wide-open corner 3-pointer by Andrew Wiggins.

On the ensuing possession, Flagg attacked Wiggins one-on-one with a crossover and made a tough left-handed layup while contorting his body mid-air against Giannis Antetokounmpo, effectively putting the game away with little time left. He finished the game with 29 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, five steals, and three blocks, as he was a two-way monster and dominated in all facets of the game against Miami.

Flagg will keep helping Dallas in the clutch all season

Keep in mind Flagg was coming off a mild left shoulder sprain, but one wouldn't be able to tell based on his defensive activity and the number of left-hand finishes he had in the contest. Dallas' victory on Monday was undoubtedly a full-team win, as players like Walter Clayton Jr. stepped up in a big way, but Miami's defensive intensity was off the charts in the second half, and Antetokounmpo was feasting on the inside, so Dallas needed their best player to carry them home in the fourth quarter.

Flagg did just that on both sides of the ball, and there's no reason to believe he can't continue to do this as the season goes along. Obviously, Dallas isn't going to win every single clutch contest, but Flagg doesn't take kindly to losing, and there's no doubt how tough last season was for him, being a guy who has never really been on a losing team in his life.

Flagg's had more prolific scoring performances in a Mavericks uniform compared to this game against the Heat, but this game felt like a coming-out party in the sense that he's ready to win now and will do whatever it takes on both sides of the ball to make that happen, especially in crucial late-game scenarios.

With an improved roster and Irving back in the lineup, there's no reason Flagg can't get the Mavericks over the hump in many more clutch games this season, as his clutch gene can be fully actualized with him playing his natural position and having more talent around him.

It's still very early in the season, but the 19-year-old may just be good enough to lead Dallas back to the playoffs in only his second season after Dallas finished 26-56 last season.

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