Cooper Flagg is making a late push for NBA Rookie of the Year, dropping 51, 45 and 25 points over his last three games, respectively. If you want to wager on Flagg’s point prop for the full game on Wednesday in Phoenix, I wouldn’t argue with you. But I believe the more noteworthy angle on Flagg props right now is his hot starts.
Prior to Sunday night in Los Angeles, Flagg hadn’t played more than eight minutes in the first quarter of a game in two months. But the Mavericks have seemingly made some late season adjustments to the rotation, which involves riding their rookie more earlier in games. In the two games in Los Angeles against the Lakers and Clippers, he played over 11 minutes in the first quarter in each game.
Flagg was able to turn the early run into strong starts in both instances, finishing the opening quarter with 19 points against the Lakers and 13 points against the Clippers. He’s been extremely aggressive out of the gates in each game, combining for 19 field goal attempts and six free throws since the rotation adjustment.
With Dallas pushing for its franchise cornerstone in the NBA ROY market, there’s no reason to move away from what should remain the standard rotation for the last week of the regular season. I’ll back Flagg to go over his first quarter point prop again on Wednesday.
NBA Pick: Cooper Flagg 8+ 1Q Points (-113)
