Flagg sits late after shoulder scare as Mavericks fall to Thunder
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Dallas Mavericks rookie forward Cooper Flagg hurt his left shoulder on the game’s first possession and watched nearly the entire closing stretch from the bench during Monday night’s 101-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 18-year-old No. 1 overall pick logged just two points on 1-for-9 shooting, two rebounds and no assists across 31 minutes. He kept a large heat wrap on the shoulder whenever he was off the floor and received post-game treatment, saying he expects further imaging but believes the joint is only “a little sore.”
“Just ice it, do some rehab and I should be good to go,” Flagg said, adding that he hopes to play Wednesday when Dallas hosts the Indiana Pacers.
The injury came one night after Flagg scored 22 points in a win over the Toronto Raptors, the first back-to-back of his NBA career. On Monday he said he felt “flat” throughout the second leg.
Dallas trailed the defending champions by as many as 22 before trimming the gap to one with 54.8 seconds left. Head coach Jason Kidd removed Flagg with 8:14 remaining and re-inserted him only for two late defensive possessions.
“It wasn’t his night,” Kidd said. “The group on the floor gave us the best chance to win, and Cooper was supporting his teammates from the bench. He’s a tough kid for playing through pain.”
Flagg acknowledged it was the first time he had sat during crunch time but backed Kidd’s call. “I wasn’t impacting the game at a high level,” he said. “The guys out there were on a run, so that was an easy decision for Coach.”
Source: ESPN
