After pouring in 49 points on Thursday to will the Dallas Mavericks (19-29) back against the Charlotte Hornets (21-28), Cooper Flagg’s pass on Dallas’ final possession of the game was deflected by his former roommate at Duke, Kon Knueppel. Knueppel’s two free throws as Flagg hustled back to defend the ensuing fast break were the two decisive points in the Hornets’ 123-121 win over the Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Knueppel led the Hornets with 34 points and hit 8-of-12 from 3-point range in the win, but was somehow, some way outshined by the Mavericks’ magic man in Flagg’s performance for the record books: 49 points on 20-of-29 shooting and 10 rebounds in the heart-sinking loss for Dallas.

The Mavericks were lifeless against Knueppel and the visiting Hornets in the first quarter. Knueppel hit his first three attempts from long range before his Duke counterpart Flagg found any rhythm for the Mavs. All three of those 3-pointers came before the game was five minutes old. Knueppel was briefly outscoring the Mavericks on his own, as his fourth 3-ball of the game gave the Hornets a 14-8 lead midway through the first. Dallas shot just 7-of-20 from the field and Flagg scored just two points as the Mavs fell behind 33-20 after one.

Flagg picked up the slack with four points to open the second quarter, though, as part of a quick 8-0 Mavs run to start the frame. Then he slammed home a high-flying dunk over Moussa Diabate, before earning a three-point play on another drive through Brandon Miller to bring Dallas to within 37-31 with 9:40 left before the break. Flagg was on a mission in the second quarter, scoring 14 points in less than five minutes after Knueppel’s hot start to the first quarter.

Ryan Nembhard forced the tempo for the Mavs in the second quarter as well, finding both P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford on beautiful lob passes in transition in the first six minutes of the second quarter. The pretty lob to Gafford brought the Mavericks to within 44-38 of the lead with 6:35 left in the second.

Brandon Williams milked the clock on the Mavs’ final possession of the first half, then drove past Miller for a circus shot and a 3-point play with 11 seconds left on the clock to bring Dallas to within 59-58 at the interval. The Mavs shot 14-of-27 in the second and held Charlotte to 8-of-21 shooting at the same time, cutting a 13-point lead after one to just one point at halftime.

After a longer-than-normal halftime break for the jersey retirement ceremony honoring Mavericks franchise legend Mark Aguirre, Flagg scored his second 3-point play of the game on the other end after a missed transition dunk by Hornets forward Miles Bridges to keep Dallas within one possession of the lead. He pulled up for a jumper after slipping with the ball the next time down, but Knueppel nailed his sixth and seventh 3-balls of the game in the next minute to put Charlotte up 73-67 with 8:30 left in the third.

After Flagg poured in 15 more points in the third, Klay Thompson and Caleb Martin each knocked in crucial 3-pointers late in the third to tie the game, 93-93, heading to the fourth. The Mavs wrestled control of the game away from the Hornets early in the fourth, but a timely little 9-2 Charlotte run with Flagg resting moved them back in front, 105-102, with seven minutes to play.

Knueppel and Flagg traded driving buckets with four minutes left to play as the lead saw-sawed back and forth late in the game. Flagg’s drive gave him 44 points and a new Mavericks’ record for single-game scoring by a rookie — moving past, you guessed it, Aguirre, who was honored earlier in the evening.

Rookies battle for bragging rights

Knueppel won the first quarter by a mile in the Battle of Blue Devils over Flagg, but Flagg got the better of the second quarter. These two are the only two NBA rookies with a chance at Rookie of the Year honors this season, and coming into Thursday’s game, even the staunchest Mavs fans would have to admit that Knueppel was a hair in front of Flagg statistically through 48 games.

Whoever ends up winning the postseason award, these two rookies are both capable of taking a game over and putting on a show. You put them on opposite ends of things, and you can tell, it’s a little personal, but they’re both so cool and collected at the same time.

Knueppel hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game with just under five minutes left in the first half, then Flagg stepped back for his first of the game on the other end of the floor, with Knueppel defending him. The rookie studs had piled up 19 points apiece to that point. Flagg hit his second jumper over Knueppel with two minutes left in the first half, this time from just outside the elbow after a pump fake, a shot that looked eerily similar to Dirk Nowitzki’s patented one-legged fadeaway.

Flagg made mincemeat of the Hornets’ defense in the second quarter on his way to 23 points, the highest scoring quarter of his rookie campaign. It came within one point of Aguirre’s best quarter as a Maverick — he scored 24 in one quarter in 1983. Flagg’s 25 points in the first half was also a new season- and career-best output. While Knueppel shot 6-of-7 from the field in the first half on his way to 19 points to lead the Hornets, Flagg shot 8-of-9 from the field in the second quarter on his way to a game-high 25.

This little Coop-vs.-Kon in-game side quest was captivating. Flagg dove down the lane in transition for a leaning lay-in with five minutes left in the third to bring the Mavs to within 88-80 and give Flagg a game-high 36 points. He skied for a blocked shot inside while defending Diabate two possessions later. He scored a leaner in the lane over two Charlotte defenders with 2:55 left in the third to put him at 38, then scored the next time down over three defenders to get to 40 before the third quarter was out. The kid was a machine.

Flagg became just the fourth rookie since 2000 to score 40 points in two or more games, joining Blake Griffin, Donovan Mitchell and Anthony Edwards. He joined just Edwards (2) and LeBron James (3) to have more than one 40-point game before turning 20 years old.

Flagg tied his career-high scoring mark on a jumper over Miller with nine minutes left in the game that gave Dallas a 102-98 edge. After Flagg got to 44 late in the fourth, Knueppel scored four more points to put him at 32 for the night and pull the Hornets back in front, 113-110, with 3:18 left.

But Flagg saved his best move for the game’s final minute. After Miller canned an open 3-ball with :39 left on the clock to put the Hornets ahead 121-118, Flagg calmly brought the ball down, sized up the defender in front of him, and drilled his third on the other end with :34 left.

Knueppel’s supporting cast was better around their rookie stud than Flagg’s Mavericks were for most of the game. Lamelo Ball made five of his first eight 3-point attempts in the game and scored 12 points in the third quarter in support of Knueppel to help Charlotte stay in front, despite Flagg’s scoring onslaught. Miller had his moments, too, in a 23-point performance.

Then, late in the third, a switch got flipped for the Mavs. Klay Thompson hit a big 3-pointer from five feet behind the top of the key with just under a minute left in the third to pull the Mavs to within 93-90, then Caleb Martin knocked in his first 3-ball of the game with 20 seconds left in the period to tied the game, 93-93, headed to the fourth.

Thompson knocked in another 3-pointer on the Mavs’ first possession of the fourth quarter, giving the Mavericks a brief 96-93 lead and adding to a 23-9 Dallas run that started late in the third. He made a nice back-cut a minute later to put the Mavs ahead 98-96, then Williams leaked out in transition and scored over Diabate to give the Mavericks a four-point edge and force a Hornets’ timeout with 9:54 left to play.

Max Christie’s runner in the lane brought Dallas to within 113-112 with 2:50 left in the game. The next time down, Christie missed on a tough driving attempt, but Gafford gathered in the offensive board and got fouled going up. His 1-of-2 trip to the line tied the game, 113-113. After Ball’s 3-pointer from the left wing and a goaltend on Flagg’s next driving attempt, the Hornets held a 116-115 lead with less than two minutes on the clock.

Christie came alive down the stretch after an off game for the first three quarters. Washington found him on a good ball reversal for his first 3-point make of the game to tie the game, 118-118, with 1:01 left.

The night on the floor belonged to Flagg and Knueppel, but at halftime, the Mavericks retired Mark Aguirre’s No. 24 jersey in a ceremony featuring teammates Derek Harper and Rolondo Blackman as well as words from Magic Johnson, whom Aguirre battled in the 1986-87 Western Conference Finals, and Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki. Longtime friend and teammate with the Detroit Pistons after Aguirre’s eight seasons in Dallas, Isaiah Thomas was interviewed during the game broadcast, giving Aguirre credit for getting those Pistons’ teams over the hump on their way to two NBA Championships in the late 1980s.

“Mark and I grew up literally three or four blocks from each other, never ever thinking or dreaming that we would be professional NBA basketball players,” Thomas said during the ceremony. “We just liked playing basketball together. Without Mark Aguirre coming to the Pistons, we never win an NBA Championship. So, Rolondo, Harp, thank you for my Hall-of-Fame friend.”

Aguirre was helped to the podium by Harper and Blackman, who stood by his side as Aguirre delivered his halftime address to the crowd at AAC. It was nice to see an infusion of goodwill into that building after the year the franchise has had since … well, never mind. It was just good to see the franchise’s first No. 1 overall draft pick have his legacy as a Mavericks hero cemented with his jersey number being pulled up into the rafters.

“In 1980, these two guys right here went to bat for me,” Aguirre said of Harper and Blackman. “Thank you for letting us represent you. Dallas is an incredible NBA city.”