Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg suffered a left shoulder injury in Monday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The injury occurred in the first possession of the game, which significantly impacted his performance, finishing with two points on 1-of-9 shooting with two rebounds and no assists in 31 minutes played.
Flagg also spent much of crunch time on the bench, which further underlined his limitations due to the ailment.
“It wasn’t his night tonight,” head coach Jason Kidd said via ESPN. “We’re a team, and so understand that the group that was out there put us in the position to win the game. He wasn’t on the floor, but he was cheering for his teammates.”
After the game, he received treatment and iced it while he voiced uncertainty about whether he would play on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.
“We’re going to probably get some scans or whatever, make sure everything’s all clean, but I feel like it’s just a little sore,” said Flagg. “Just want to keep an eye on it, ice it, do some rehab, and should be good to go.”
In his brief NBA career, Flagg has shown plenty of promise with his versatility offensively. In Sunday’s win over the Toronto Raptors, he scored 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting with four rebounds and four assists.
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Before Monday’s contest, he had notched double-digit scoring in each of the first three games of the season. He is averaging 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 31.5 minutes per game.
The Mavericks will likely take the precautionary approach with Flagg’s injury. It could spell sitting him out for Wednesday’s game to avoid a setback.
