Flagg Scores 43, Wembanyama Scores 40: Monday Night in the NBA

Monday was supposed to be an ordinary eight-game night. Then two of the league's youngest stars treated it like a showcase. Victor Wembanyama scored 40 points in 25 minutes in Phoenix, Cooper Flagg scored 43 in Dallas, and in San Francisco a game got so far out of hand it rewrote two franchises' record books at once. Here is the whole night, game by game.

Spurs 122, Suns 96 — Wembanyama, in 25 minutes

Start with the arithmetic, because the arithmetic is the story. Wembanyama played 25 minutes and 21 seconds in Phoenix and produced 40 points, 11 rebounds, nine blocks and three assists, shooting 15 of 19 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line, with San Antonio outscoring the Suns by 30 while he was on the floor. Per ESPN, he is just the second player to score 40 or more in under 26 minutes since minutes were first officially tracked in 1951-52, and Stathead counts it as the third 40-point, 10-rebound game of his career in under 26 minutes. He was one block short of a triple-double of the rarest kind, and he barely had to play in the fourth quarter.

This is becoming a pattern rather than a spike. The performance came five days after Wembanyama set career highs of 52 points and 24 rebounds against Dallas. Dylan Harper added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, Julian Champagnie scored 11 in a spot start for Devin Vassell (adductor), and the Spurs have won nine straight after opening the season with two losses — 9-2 overall and a perfect 5-0 on the road. Devin Booker scored 32 for Phoenix and Khaman Maluach added 11 off the bench, but the Suns' two-game winning streak ended and they fell to 3-6. Booker, per Bleacher Report, told reporters afterward that Wembanyama is "something like we've never seen before." Hard to argue from the wrong end of a 26-point loss. The box score and play-by-play live in the Game Center for Spurs at Suns.

Mavericks 125, Pacers 122 — Flagg's 43 finish the comeback

Dallas trailed by 13 and by 10 at halftime, 66-56, because Pascal Siakam scored 26 of his 29 points in the first half. Then Flagg took the game over: 30 of his season-high 43 points came after halftime, on 16-of-25 shooting overall, with 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. At 19, he became the second teenager in NBA history to post a 40-10-5 game, after Kevin Durant for the Seattle SuperSonics in the last game of the 2007-08 season. Kyrie Irving added 35 points on seven three-pointers in a season-high 38 minutes, completing the second night of a back-to-back for the first time this season after missing 19 months with a torn ACL. Indiana still had the ball late with a chance to tie, but Caleb Martin's steal sealed it. Dallas is 7-4 with three straight wins; Indiana, still without Tyrese Haliburton, is 3-8. We covered this game in full: Flagg joined Durant in the teen record book — and Dallas needed every point.

Warriors 138, Pelicans 87 — a 51-point record-breaker

The night's other history happened at Chase Center. Stephen Curry scored 25 points in just over 20 minutes, Brandin Podziemski added 25 and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg 23 — 73 points between them — as Golden State completed a perfect 6-0 homestand with its eighth straight win. No team in NBA history had ever started a season 0-3 and then won eight in a row. The 51-point margin was the fourth-largest in Warriors history and the worst regular-season loss the Pelicans have ever taken. Derik Queen led New Orleans with 16 points and three blocks, but the Pelicans were without Zion Williamson, who was rested, along with Trey Murphy III and Yves Missi, and they have now lost three straight to fall to 4-7. This one earned its own story: Warriors rout Pelicans 138-87 and make NBA history doing it.

Pistons 122, Wizards 111 — Davis scores 44 and loses

Anthony Davis came back from two games out with a right ankle sprain and played like a man making up for lost time: 44 points, 30 of them in the first half, and 13 rebounds. Detroit simply had more people. John Collins scored 24 points with 10 rebounds, Daniss Jenkins supplied 22 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals, Duncan Robinson scored 22 and Cade Cunningham finished with 17 points and seven assists. Rookie AJ Dybantsa had 21 points and eight rebounds for Washington and Trae Young added 20 points and seven assists, but the Wizards have lost four straight. One day earlier Davis was a bystander in this matchup's story; on Monday he was the story and it still was not enough.

Lakers 124, Hawks 114 — Doncic returns, the streak rolls on

Luka Doncic sat out Sunday in Detroit with lower back tightness. A night later in Atlanta he looked fully rested: 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting, eight rebounds and 10 assists, his eighth straight game with at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists. The Lakers won their sixth straight playing without Austin Reaves, who was ill — 24 hours after Reaves scored 43 without Doncic. Los Angeles is developing a useful habit of winning whichever star sits. CJ McCollum came off the bench to score 21 for the Hawks and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20, but Atlanta's four-game winning streak is over.

Rockets 110, Nuggets 100 — Durant and Sengun outlast Murray and Jokic

Houston's two-man game beat Denver's. Kevin Durant finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and Alperen Sengun added 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Rockets snapped a two-game skid at home. Jamal Murray scored 15 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter and Nikola Jokic added 25 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, but Denver's late push fell short after the Nuggets had won four of their previous five. Jabari Smith Jr. chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds for Houston.

Grizzlies 118, Raptors 102 — perfect on the road

Memphis fixed its broken jump shot and made a little franchise history doing it. After shooting below 25 percent from three in consecutive games, the Grizzlies went 16 of 34 from deep in Toronto: Ty Jerome scored 27 points with five three-pointers, Cameron Boozer added 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Memphis got 44 bench points and a 44-34 edge on the glass. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and moved the Grizzlies to 5-0 on the road, the best road start in franchise history. Toronto, missing three starters — Kawhi Leonard, Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes — got 20 points and 11 assists from Jamal Shead and 19 points from RJ Barrett on 7-of-21 shooting, and has dropped four of its past six.

Hornets 124, Cavaliers 112 — the threes finally fell

Charlotte ended a six-game losing streak by turning the game into a shooting contest Cleveland could not match. The Hornets made 23 of their 46 three-point attempts, got 27 points from Grayson Allen and 25 points and 13 rebounds from Naz Reid, produced 43 bench points and controlled the boards 49-32 behind Ryan Kalkbrenner's 15 rebounds. Rookie Meleek Thomas led Cleveland with a season-high 18 points off the bench, while Donovan Mitchell managed a season-low 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting on a night Cleveland needed his usual scoring.

What comes next

Phoenix stays home to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. San Antonio visits Chicago on Wednesday, and Dallas — the team of the night, twice over — goes to Minnesota on Thursday. Every score from Monday, and every game still to come, lives in the Previously NBA hub, and the full season lines for Wembanyama, Flagg and the rest are in the NBA Stats Hub.