From bad news to worse, not only did the Dallas Mavericks lose their game against the Denver Nuggets 118-109, but they also appear to have lost star rookie Cooper Flagg as well.
Flagg exited at halftime Wednesday after appearing to twist his ankle while guarding Denver’s Peyton Watson in the 2nd quarter. With 6:01 remaining before halftime, Flagg was called for a foul, and subsequently limped off the court and headed down the tunnel.
“He stepped on someone’s foot,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “Last game, he twisted his ankle too. We decided to hold him [out] for the second half.”
Currently averaging 18.8pts/6.3reb/4.2ast per game, Flagg is the presumptive favourite for the NBA’s rookie of the year award this season. He’s appeared in all but 1 contest this season (his lone absence was illness related), and with Anthony Davis already out due to a hand injury, Dallas is now extremely thin in their front court.
Making matters even worse still, centre Daniel Gafford suffered a sprained right ankle in the 3rd quarter as well. Gafford has been bothered by ankle issues since training camp, so it’s hard to tell whether this is just a flare up, or whether he has re-aggravated the injury altogether.
“This is a hard time for us,” Kidd said. “We have had a lot of injuries. … We have been hurt since day one of training camp. This is the norm. The character has been displayed in tough times of being down. But we keep fighting.”
Both Flagg and Gafford are currently listed as questionable for the team’s game on Thursday vs. the Utah Jazz. If neither can go, then the next opportunity for them to suit up would come on Saturday at home in the second game of a double-header vs. Utah.
Dallas currently sports a 15-26 record on the year, but are 3-7 in their last 10 games. They currently occupy the 12th spot in the Western Conference standings, and find themselves 19 games back of the conference leading Thunder at the halfway point of the season.
Photo: Michael Barrera. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.