Cooper Flagg faces big test as Bucks come to Dallas

The NBA's No. 1 leading scorer, Giannis Antetokounmpo, will make his first run at 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg when the Milwaukee Bucks visit the Dallas Mavericks Monday night at American Airlines Center.

Milwaukee (6-4) will be playing the second game of a back-to-back after losing to the Houston Rockets 122-115 Sunday at home. Houston broke open a tie game with two minutes left and ended the game on a 22-7 run. Antetokounmpo finished with 37 points but missed three free throws down the stretch.

Antetokounmpo entered Sunday night's game leading the NBA with 33.4 points a game. Milwaukee was 8-8 in back-to-back games last season.

Flagg has been a bright spot for the rebuilding Mavericks (3-7). The 18-year-old phenom is second on the team with 13.9 points and 6.6 rebounds a game as he adjusts to life in the NBA.

"You know everybody's going to be physical with you, so if you're not ready to kind of use your bump and play with physicality yourself, you can't really get anywhere," Flagg told the Dallas Morning News after Saturday's win over the Washington Wizards. "So, I'm just learning that."

Flagg had 12 points and six assists in the Mavericks' 111-105 victory. He's shooting 96 percent from the free-throw line.

"I thought there for a while he just took control of the game with the pass, with the tempo, being able to find teammates," said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd about Flagg. "I thought he did a high level of that when we needed it, his trust of making a play for a teammate."

The Mavericks' 3-7 start is their worst 10-game start since the 2018-19 season. The Mavs are still without Kyrie Irving, who suffered a torn ACL in March. Klay Thompson sat out Saturday night's game with an illness and Dereck Lively II missed his sixth game with a sprained knee.

Dallas did get good news on star center Anthony Davis, who has missed the last five games with a strained calf. He was upgraded to questionable for Saturday's game against Washington but did not play.

Milwaukee has won six straight games over the Mavericks, with Dallas' last win in the series on April 3, 2022. Dallas ranks last in the NBA in points per game at 106.5. The Bucks game is the first of a four-game homestand for Dallas.

--Field Level Media