Mavericks just confirmed an important Cooper Flagg truth

Cooper Flagg went 3 for 12 from the field in the fourth quarter and overtime against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night. That's awesome.

Okay, it's not awesome that Flagg shot 25% from the field in the game's final frame(s). The awesome part is that Flagg was willing to shoot the ball 12 times in the fourth quarter and overtime, powering through shooting struggles to still make the most important plays. And that the Mavericks have made it clear that Flagg is this team's closer, and it's his offense when the game gets tight.

Not being scared off by a few misses is, among about 100 other things, a trait that signals stardom for Coop.

That aggressiveness from an 18 year-old, especially against the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference, is noteworthy. Any passiveness in Flagg's game has completely dissipated and it took less than two months for that to happen. He's speedrunning his way to being the No. 1 option on a competitive Mavs team,

Two of those three made field goals came in the last minute of the fourth quarter, by the way. One was to cut the Pistons' lead to 1, and the next was to take the lead with under 20 seconds remaining. That's why, in a roundabout way, I'm encouraged by Flagg going 3 for 12 late. Because the shots weren't falling, and the rookie (correctly) still wanted the ball in his hands. That's elite poise.

Cooper Flagg wants the ball in big moments

Flagg is among the top 20 fourth-quarter scorers in the NBA, and his inefficient night in the final stages on Thursday is actually an exception, not the rule. Flagg has shot over 48% from the field in the fourth quarter this year, and perhaps more importantly, he's No. 7 in the league in fourth quarter free-throw attempts. He gets more aggressive as the game goes on, while some other teams in Texas have to beg their superstars to take shots in the clutch. But I won't name names.

Maybe if the Mavericks lost, Flagg's inefficient late-game shooting would be more upsetting. But they didn't! Instead, they secured their best win of the year, in large part because Flagg kept shooting and came up clutch twice. He also didn't turn the ball over once in that stretch, which is an underrated aspect of late-game situations. Not making rookie mistakes is almost as important as making the big play.

This season, the Mavs have been inconsistent in clutch time, posting a net rating of exactly 0.0. The more comfortable Flagg gets handling, shooting, and playmaking late in games, the better that clip will become. Even with the shots not always falling, last night felt like a big step in that direction.