Cooper Flagg is already a star: 33 points end the Rockets' 5-0 start

Is Cooper Flagg already a star?

Yes. Cooper Flagg is a star, and Friday night settled it. The Houston Rockets walked into Dallas at 5-0, on a five-game winning streak, and left with their first loss of the season. The Dallas Mavericks won 116-111, and Flagg was the reason it never got away from them.

He scored 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting. He grabbed 9 rebounds, handed out 6 assists, and added 2 steals and a block in 39 minutes. He did it without making a single three. He went 0-for-4 from deep and still scored 33, by getting to the rim and the free throw line, where he made 7 of 10.

Stars find a way to score when the jumper is not falling. That is the whole test, and he passed it against a team that had not lost yet.

How much better is Flagg in year two?

A lot. Flagg won Rookie of the Year last season at 21.0 points per game, the second-youngest winner ever behind only LeBron James. Five games into year two, he is at 26.8 points a night.

The jump is not just volume. His field goal percentage is up from 46.8% to 55.7%. His assists are up from 4.5 to 6.6. He is getting 2.6 steals a game. That is a player scoring more, scoring better and running more of the offense, all at once.

Look at the run. He put up 32 in the opener at Houston, 29 with 11 assists at Miami, 26 against Oklahoma City and 33 on Friday. The one quiet night was 14 at Indiana, where he played 17 minutes before leaving with shoulder soreness.

What did Dallas prove against Houston?

Houston blew Dallas out 128-110 in the season opener on Oct. 21. Nine days later, the Mavericks got the rematch and won it. Dallas is 4-2 now, and Houston is 5-1.

Flagg did not do it alone. Kyrie Irving was brilliant, with 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting, 5-of-8 from three, a perfect 6-for-6 at the line and 9 assists. Kevin Durant gave Houston 28. But Irving has been doing this since 2011. The 19-year-old matching him shot for shot is the story.

What is the case against Flagg?

The fair knock is the jumper. Flagg is shooting 26.9% from three this season, down from 29.5% as a rookie, and he went 0-for-4 on Friday. Elite defenses will sag off him and dare him to shoot, and until he makes them pay, he has a ceiling on bad nights.

It is also five games. Hot Octobers cool off. And on Friday, Irving outscored him and hit the shots from deep that Flagg could not.

None of that changes the answer. A player who scores 26.8 a night on 55.7% shooting without a reliable three is not a project. He is a star who has not added his last weapon yet.