Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg was forced out of Friday’s game in Indiana due to a left shoulder injury after he was fouled hard by Aaron Nesmith on a fast break, according to Christian Clark of The Athletic.
As Clark writes, Flagg suffered the injury late in the second quarter, when Dallas was up 33 points. Nesmith received a flagrant foul 1 for the play, and he and Naji Marshall both got technicals after Marshall came to his teammate’s defense, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
While Flagg stayed in the game to take — and make — two free throws, he immediately subbed out afterward and was later ruled out with left shoulder soreness. Marshall started the second half with the reigning Rookie of the Year sidelined, Curtis adds (via Twitter).
Flagg was in the midst of a stellar game prior to the injury, Clark notes, recording 14 points, six assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block in just 17 minutes. Head coach Dusty May said Flagg will be “evaluated the next couple days,” according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), which suggests the 19-year-old might be sidelined for Saturday’s home opener against San Antonio.
“Nesmith’s a great guy. Heck of a player. I’ve known him since he was in high school. An unfortunate play,” May said of the incident (Twitter video link from Curtis). “Hopefully Coop’s fine, but obviously it’s something we wish wouldn’t have happened.”
Here are a few more noteworthy injury updates from around the NBA:
Another former No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year winner, Magic forward Paolo Banchero, experienced right ankle soreness in Friday’s home loss to Minnesota (Twitter link via the team). He was deemed doubtful to return in the fourth quarter and didn’t end up making it back on the court with the game out of reach — the Magic dropped their second straight contest to fall to 0-2. As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel tweets, head coach Sean Sweeney didn’t offer much of an update on Banchero after the loss beyond confirming his ankle was sore and stating he would continue to be evaluated.
All-Star center Jalen Duren, who re-signed with the Pistons this offseason on a five-year, $200MM deal as a restricted free agent, suffered a right thigh injury during Friday’s road game in Miami, the team announced (via Twitter). While Duren is considered questionable to return, Paul Reed started the third quarter, notes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link), and Duren has yet to check back in.
Big man Oso Ighodaro, who appeared in all 82 regular season games for the Suns last season, will miss Saturday’s contest due to a strained right oblique, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Head coach Jordan Ott seemed relatively optimistic about the injury, which occurred late in the second quarter of Wednesday’s lopsided loss in Portland, Rankin adds (Twitter video link). “Pretty good report overall. It’s an oblique strain. He’ll be out for sure tomorrow,” Ott said of Ighodaro, who recently signed a three-year, $29MM extension. “We hope it’s just more day-to-day than long-term. I think we avoided something serious.” Phoenix is already thin at center, with Mark Williams out several months following shoulder surgery. Khaman Maluach and Duop Reath are candidates for more playing time in the short term.