DALLAS (AP) — Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving won't play Saturday for the Dallas Mavericks against the San Antonio Spurs, leaving coach Dusty May without his two marquee players in his home debut.
Flagg is out after an MRI revealed a mild sprain of his left shoulder suffered just before halftime of Dallas’ win at Indiana a night earlier. Last season’s Rookie of the Year will be reevaluated next week.
Irving is sitting out the second half of Dallas’ back-to-back
for load management, having returned to action this season after being sidelined for 19 months with a torn ACL.
Flagg was driving to the basket after making a steal near midcourt Friday night in the final minute of the first half against Indiana. As he went up for an apparent dunk, he was fouled from behind by Aaron Nesmith, a play that was ruled a Flagrant 1 foul. Flagg landed behind the baseline on his left shoulder and didn’t reenter the game.
Flagg was leading all scorers with 14 points in 17 minutes along with five rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. Dallas led 77-43 at halftime and went to beat the Pacers 121-105.
Irving scored 15 points in 24 minutes in Dallas’ opener last Wednesday night, a 128-110 loss at Houston. He had 24 points on Friday. The Mavericks’ next game will be on Monday night at Miami.
May’s first NBA coaching win came about 80 miles from where he was born, Terre Haute, Indiana. He led Michigan to the NCAA championship last season.
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