TORONTO — The perfect scenario was a convincing Raptors win with some stardust sprinkled around the Scotiabank Arena floor by Cooper Flagg, the 19-year-old Dallas Mavericks star who has already proven himself to be one of the best teenagers in NBA history. 

One of two isn’t bad, and the Raptors took care of the most important part: getting a much-needed win over Flagg and the tanking Mavericks as Toronto’s hold on a playoff spot gets more tenuous with just 19 games left in the regular season. 

The Raptors led early and built on their lead steadily as the evening unfolded.  Once they went up by 20 on a smooth turnaround jumper by Scottie Barnes late in the third quarter, they were sharp enough to keep the drama at bay throughout the fourth period of what ended up being an easy 122-92 win. It was the tanking Mavericks' seventh straight loss. 

But given the Raptors' struggles against top teams this season, taking care of the ‘minnows’ on the schedule is vital.

A big factor in the Raptors' performance was RJ Barrett playing like the best Duke University product in a game where four of them saw action, Flagg included. Barrett uncorked a season-high 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting (3-of-6 from three), giving the strongest signal yet that he has found his game after struggling since missing 23 out of 29 games in a two-month stretch that ended in late January.

As for Flagg? He both looked the part of the NBA’s best teenager since LeBron James joined the NBA in 2003, and at times, a rookie struggling with the attention the Raptors were giving him defensively. He finished with 17 points and eight rebounds but shot 7-of-17 and had four turnovers in his 30 minutes. His frustration boiled over at one point, and he got his first NBA technical foul for arguing a no-call on a second-half drive to the rim. “I don’t think I got one last year (in college) either,” he said. 

But like the Raptors' Scottie Barnes, Flagg still managed to touch nearly every element of the game as he added eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocked shots. 

After Western Conference stars the likes of Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic missed their stops in Toronto due to injury, Flagg’s contributions were welcome........

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