Boston Celtics
Flagg had 16 factors, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in his second look since coming back from a foot harm that price him eight video games.
Jayson Tatum’s return to the Celtics’ lineup, 298 days after tearing his proper Achilles tendon in Sport 4 of the Jap Convention semifinals, was the story throughout the NBA Friday evening, to not point out probably the most intriguing plot developments of your complete season.
However the residents of 1 New England state could possibly be forgiven if Tatum’s triumphant return — he completed with 15 factors, 12 rebounds, and seven assists, trying like a barely rusty model of the Jayson Tatum who has been a first-team All-NBA choice for 4 straight seasons — was merely a satisfying sidebar to the primary story from their perspective.
Or Maine story, because it have been. Anticipation for Cooper Flagg’s first NBA sport at TD Backyard started … oh, someday in between when he started trying like a future professional whereas main Nokomis Excessive College in Newport, Maine, to a state championship as a 15-year-old in 2022, and his steady ascent since, which included successful nationwide participant of the 12 months as a freshman at Duke final season, and changing into the no-doubt No. 1 decide within the 2025 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks.
The second arrived final evening when Flagg’s Mavericks visited the Backyard, their lone go to right here throughout his rookie season.
Flagg, who’s from a household of passionate Celtics followers — his mother, Kelly, grew up in a family that had a Larry Fowl poster within the kitchen — had by no means performed on the Backyard till Friday evening.
The end result needed to be near preferrred for almost all of the Backyard crowd. The Celtics prevailed, 120-100, however the 19-year-old Flagg acquitted himself nicely. He shot simply 7 of 23, however served because the fulcrum of the Mavericks’ offense with 16 factors, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in his second look since coming back from a foot harm that price him eight video games.
Tatum, in fact, acquired the loudest cheers, only a few decibels beneath the Payton Pritchard-hits-halfcourt-3-pointer-in-the Finals degree, which is about as loud because the Backyard can get. However Flagg received a rousing ovation of his personal, together with just a few hoots through the “Star-Spangled Banner” after the phrases “our flag was nonetheless there.”
“I’ve by no means heard a highway participant get a cheer like that in Boston,’’ stated Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, who has his personal historical past with Celtics followers. “They have a tendency to go the opposite manner.”
Flagg acknowledged that he tried to take a second earlier than tipoff to take a deep breath and take within the scene. “It’s a dream come true, being on the market on that courtroom,” he stated afterward. “It’s actually particular.”
– Matthew J. Lee/Globe Workers
Kelly Flagg estimated in a textual content message Friday afternoon that the household had gone to 3 or 4 Celtics video games whereas Cooper, his twin brother Ace (a standout freshman on the College of Maine), and older brother Hunter have been rising up.
This homecoming had a little bit of a twist, although. Two years in the past, in January 2024, when Flagg was playing at prep powerhouse Montverde Academy in Florida, the workforce traveled to Maine for a pair of video games so he and Ace may play in entrance of their house state followers.
This time, Maine got here to them. The thrill for Tatum’s return and Flagg’s Backyard debut introduced a crowd that two totally different members of the Celtics communications workforce likened Friday evening to a convention finals environment.
Judging by the kaleidoscope of blue jerseys within the stands — many Flagg No. 32 Mavs jersey, others from his season at Duke — tons of of followers made the trek from Maine to Causeway Avenue, a 3-hour journey from Newport, 3½ for those who miss the shortcut on the Gardiner toll.
It was becoming that his first go to as an NBA participant to the Backyard coincided with Tatum’s return. Flagg attended Tatum’s summer time basketball camp in highschool, and the Celtics star was a believer in Flagg even earlier than he adopted the identical path to Duke. “I like how he has an edge about him, a toughness,’’ Tatum instructed me in 2024. “Particular child, particular participant.”
Flagg referred to Tatum as a mentor greater than as soon as throughout his postgame information convention: “He’s somebody that I idolized and watching him undergo [different] ranges and watching him at Duke and type of following in his footsteps, it’s simply surreal.”
When the sport was over, Tatum and Flagg chatted briefly on the parquet, sharing in an evening that gained’t quickly be forgotten.
“I instructed him it was unbelievable what he was in a position to do and how briskly he was in a position to come again,’’ stated Flagg.
He was then requested if he is perhaps a Celtic himself sometime.
“I like being a Maverick,’’ he stated. “It’s house and I don’t need anything.”
That was the savvy reply of a 10-year veteran relatively than a teenaged rookie. And maybe it’s the entire fact. Dallas is his basketball house now.
However Friday evening, these from his actual house got here to see him in Boston, and it certain did really feel prefer it’s the place he belongs.
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