NBA roundup: Mavs' Cooper Flagg narrowly wins rookie of the year award

In the second-closest vote in the award's recent history, a 100-member global media panel selected Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg as the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday.

Flagg, who earned the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy along with the honor, outpaced his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets 412-386. Flagg earned 56 first-place votes to Knueppel's 44.

Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) dribble the ball past Pistons guard Ausar Thompson (9) during the game between the Pistons and Mavericks at the American Airlines Center.

"I see the games every night," Flagg said about monitoring Knueppel's results. "I can check the box scores. I think also I was watching Kon just because that's one of my brothers. We had such a good connection, and we're gonna be there for each other for the rest of our lives. I was watching him as a fan as well, but there was obviously that competition at the same time."

Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe finished third with 96 points – receiving zero first-place votes and only one second-place vote – while San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (5) and Memphis Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward (1) were the only other players to receive votes.

The No. 1 overall selection in the 2026 NBA Draft lived up to all of the lofty expectations. Flagg led all qualifying rookies with 21.0 points per game and finished second in assists per game (4.5) and third in rebounds per contest (6.7).

"This is a truly great honor," Flagg said in a statement. "I'm grateful to receive this award and thankful to everyone in the Dallas Mavericks organization who believed in me from Day 1.

"None of this happens without my teammates, coaches and the people around me pushing me every day. I came here to compete and help this team win. This is just one step forward in what we're building."

Flagg became the fourth rookie to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and four assists per game since the NBA-ABA merger. Larry Bird (1979-80), Michael Jordan (1984-85) and Luke Doncic (2018-19) reached those plateaus.

At 19 years, 112 days – as of April 12 – Flagg is the second-youngest honoree, just six days older than LeBron James, who was tabbed in 2003-04.

Some experts thought Knueppel might earn the award, as he led the entire league in 3-point field goals made (273), outpacing the former rookie mark by 67 treys. But the fourth overall pick in the draft finished third on the Hornets in scoring (18.5 ppg) behind Brandon Miller (20.2) and LaMelo Ball (20.1)

Four years ago, Toronto's Scottie Barnes edged Cleveland's Evan Mobley 378-363, which remains the smallest gap under the current format (2002-03).

Celtics can finish off reeling Sixers

The Boston Celtics can close out the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the visiting Philadelphia 76ers in Game 5 on Tuesday night.

After splitting two games in Boston, the second-seeded Celtics took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series by beating the seventh-seeded 76ers twice in Philadelphia.

"Played another about-as-bad-as-you-can-play game," Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said following Boston's 128-96 victory in Game 4. "That's two out of four in this series. Played well in the other two and we got to get back to playing well quickly. Got to go get one."

Philadelphia can point to defending the perimeter as one of the must-fix items on the 76ers' list in order to stave off elimination. The Celtics made 24 3-pointers during Game 4, shooting 48.3% overall and 45.3% from 3-point range.

Payton Pritchard, Boston's backup point guard, made 6 of 12 3-pointers and tossed in 32 points in the Game 4 victory. Pritchard was 2-of-13 from 3-point territory in the first two games of the series and then made 5 of 10 3-pointers in Boston's Game 3 win.

"I don't know if I saw anything different," Pritchard said. "It's just more playing with that aggression, playing with that spark. I felt it in Game 3. I was telling some of the coaches I thought it was a step in the right direction as far as my aggression and getting my rhythm back."

Boston's 24 3-point field goals set a franchise record for made 3-pointers in a playoff game. Jayson Tatum made five shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

"It was very bad," Nurse said when asked about his team's defensive effort in Game 4. "It just didn't seem like any matchup could guard anybody one-on-one. We had them pushed out and bottled up and physical and really off kind of rhythm for a couple games, and there was none of that "

Philadelphia's Joel Embiid returned to the court after missing the first three games in the series following an emergency appendectomy on April 9. He finished with a team-high 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, but didn't get a lot of offensive support.

Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points, but attempted only three shots in the first half. VJ Edgecombe was 2-of-9 from the field and had six points.

"That can't happen," Maxey said. "That's on me. That absolutely can't happen. That's unacceptable by me. I was playing within the flow of the game and it kind of just happened that way.

" … We can't win basketball games with that happening and I take full responsibility on that one."

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics have to be prepared for Philadelphia's best effort in Game 5.

"Regardless of who we're playing against, we have to have an understanding that they are a really good team," he said. "They can beat you on any given night. They've got great talent with the three stars that they have (Embiid, Maxey, and Paul George) and their role players when they are at their best … We've got to be disciplined on all the things that we can control – physical, mental, emotional, psychological, tactical, all of them."

The winner of the Celtics/76ers series will meet either third-seeded New York or sixth-seeded Atlanta in the next round. That series is 2-2 headed back to New York for Game 5 Tuesday.

"We've got three chances to win one game," Jaylen Brown said. "And the goal is just to get it done as soon as possible."

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Cooper Flagg of the Mavericks was named NBA rookie of the year