Cooper Flagg had 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals in 17 minutes on Friday night in Indianapolis. Then he stole the ball from Pascal Siakam, went up for a transition dunk, and Aaron Nesmith chased him down and tried to block it from behind.
Flagg landed hard on his left shoulder under the basket. He did not play again.
What Happened
It came with about a minute left in the second quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Officials reviewed the play and upgraded Nesmith’s foul to a Flagrant 1. Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington sprinted in from halfcourt to confront him, Marshall shoved him, and a shoving match broke out along the baseline until coaches pulled people apart. Nesmith and Marshall each took a technical. Nobody was ejected, which is the correct outcome under the rules, since ejections follow Flagrant 2 calls.
Flagg had his shoulder examined on the bench, got up, made his free throws, and walked off rubbing the shoulder before halftime. Marshall started the second half in his place.
The Mavericks listed him with left shoulder soreness. That is the only designation anyone has given. No imaging result, no structural diagnosis, no severity grade and no timeline has been reported, and the team’s only public word on it was a one-line statement: “Cooper Flagg (left shoulder soreness) will not return to tonight’s game against the Indiana Pacers.”
No postgame quote from Flagg, from Dallas coach Dusty May, from Nesmith or from Rick Carlisle about any of it has surfaced. Dallas plays San Antonio on Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back, and his status for that game is unknown.
Here Is the Honest Read on the Foul
Nesmith was not trying to injure anybody, and there is no evidence he was. He was also beaten, from behind, on a breakaway, and he went for the ball anyway with a player in the air in front of him. That is a reckless play, and a Flagrant 1 is exactly what it is: a foul with unnecessary contact. The league has issued no statement, no fine beyond the standard technical has been confirmed, and no suspension has been reported. None should be. The call on the floor got it right.
What the Mavericks should be worried about is the shoulder, not the league office. Flagg is 19, a year removed from being the No. 1 overall pick out of Duke, and he won Rookie of the Year last season over Kon Knueppel after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 70 games. He opened this season with 32 points in a 128-110 loss at Houston. Dallas is thin enough already, with Dereck Lively II, Santi Aldama, Caleb Martin and Tarik Biberovic all out.
The Game Itself Was Never Close
Dallas led 77-43 at halftime, a 34-point margin, and won 121-105 without its best player for the entire second half. That is the first win of the season for the Mavericks and the first of Dusty May’s head coaching career after he came over from Michigan in June. Both teams are now 1-1.
It also spoiled Tyrese Haliburton’s home-opening return at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, his first regular-season home game since the Achilles injury. He had 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds, according to Sports Illustrated’s Pacers site, in a game Indiana was out of by the middle of the second quarter.
Indiana will take the result. Dallas will take the win and then spend Saturday morning waiting on an MRI, which is the trade nobody wants to make in October.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
