Cooper Flagg, Mavs outduel Bronny James, Lakers in Summer League duel

In a showdown between the No. 1 pick in Cooper Flagg and Bronny James, it was the Mavs who came away with win over the Lakers in the Las Vegas Summer League contest.

A potential game-winning 3-pointer from Bronny James in the final seconds missed as the Lakers fell to Cooper Flagg and the Mavs on Thursday, 87-85.

Bronny ended with eight points. Cole Swider had 22 points and 10 rebounds. DJ Steward continued his impressive Summer League play with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Darius Bazley grabbed 11 rebounds to go with his eight points. Dalton Knecht pitched in with 15 points.

The battle between Bronny and Cooper Flagg started in favor of the former, who scored the first five points for LA. Flagg missed his first two shot attempts, then awakened fans with an empathic dunk. He scored another four points, building momentum off that dunk.

Aside from the energy and excitement Bronny and Flagg brought, both teams missed quite a few shots. The Lakers missed numerous rebounding opportunities. Ryan Nembhard scored eight points for Dallas. At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down by two.

Bronny and Flagg delivered once again, with Bronny playing suffocating defense on Flagg, leading to some “oohs” and “aahs” from the fans. Bronny was subbed out early, only scoring two points in the quarter on free throws. Cole, meanwhile, drained his second 3-pointer of the game.

Dallas was feasting in the paint, scoring 16 to LA’s eight with the half winding down. Moussa Cisse scored a quick four points for the Mavericks.

DJ and Darius provided a huge spark for the Lakers in scoring and energy. They both combined for 14 points in the half. Darius had six rebounds and DJ had four assists. Nembhard continued his strong play for the Mavericks, upping his point total to 12. No Lakers scored in double-digits in the half.

At halftime, LA was up four.

Jamarion Sharp threw down a dunk to jumpstart the third quarter for Dallas. Dalton ignited for the Lakers with nine points, becoming one of only two Lakers in double digits with 15 points. Both teams were having a rough go from behind the arc with LA shooting 36% and Dallas a brutal 18%.

Los Angeles had managed to keep the lead throughout the third until the 1:03 mark when the Mavericks went on an 11-0 run. The Lakers couldn’t conjure up points to put an end to Dallas’ momentum and were down by six at the end of the third.

The final frame started well for LA with eight quick points. Former Laker Maxwell Lewis then stopped that momentum surge with four points of his own. DJ drained his second 3-pointer of the game. He was a perfect 2-2 from behind the arc.

A quick 9-0 run from the Lakers gave them a two-point lead with 3:05 left. Cole scored six points, all of which came from behind the arc. A five-point scoring burst from Nembhard put Dallas up by two with 1:02 left. Both teams had upped their fight and battled hard.

LA had an opportunity to either tie or win the game in the final seconds, but Bronny’s stepback 3-pointer missed.

Key Takeaways:

Cole Swider? More like Cole BUCKETS.

Bronny might earn himself quality rotation minutes next season. His shooting form looks great, and his defense has been suffocating and strong.

Catch the Summer League game on Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans at 5:30 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.