Nonconformists Before Cooper Flagg was forced to leave Friday’s game at Indiana with a left shoulder injury after being heavily fouled Aaron Nesmith on a fast break, according to Christian Clark of The Athletic.
As Clark writes, Flagg was injured late in the second quarter, with Dallas leading by 33 points. Nesmith received a flagrant foul 1 for the play, and he and Naji Marshall both received technical exams after Marshall came to his teammate’s defense, tweets Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News.
While Flagg remained in the game to make – and make – two free throws, he immediately left afterward and was later ruled out due to left shoulder soreness. Marshall started the second half with the reigning Rookie of the Year on the sidelines, Curtis adds (via Twitter).
Flagg was in the midst of an exceptional game before his injury, Clark notes, recording 14 points, six assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block in just 17 minutes. Head coach May dusty said Flagg would be “evaluated the next few days,” according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), who suggests the 19-year-old could be out for Saturday’s home opener against San Antonio.
“Nesmith is a great guy. A hell of a player. I’ve known him since he was in high school. An unfortunate room“May said of the incident (Curtis Twitter video link).”I hope Coop is okay, but obviously this is something we would have liked to avoid..”
Here are some other noteworthy injury updates from across the NBA:
- Another former No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year winner, Magic Before Paolo Bancherofelt soreness in his right ankle during Friday’s home loss to Minnesota (Twitter link via team). He was deemed questionable to return in the fourth quarter and didn’t end up returning to the court with the game out of reach — the Magic dropped their second straight game to fall to 0-2. As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel tweets, head coach Sean Sweeney didn’t offer much news on Banchero after the loss, beyond confirming that his ankle was sore and stating that he would continue to be evaluated.
- All-Star Center Jalen Durenwho re-signed with the Pistons this offseason on a five-year, $200 million contract as a restricted free agent, suffered a right thigh injury during Friday’s road game at Miami, the team announced (via Twitter). Although Duren’s return is considered questionable, Paul Reed started the third quarter, notes Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link), and Duren has yet to check.
- Great man Oso Ighodarowho participated in all 82 regular season games for the Suns last season, will miss Saturday’s contest due to a strained right oblique, according to 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 at Portland, Rankin adds (Twitter video link). “Pretty good report overall. It is an oblique strain. It will be released for sure tomorrow” Ott said of Ighodaro, who recently signed a three-year extension worth $29 million.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 Marc Williams several months after shoulder surgery. Khaman Malouach And Duop Reath are candidates for more playing time in the short term.
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