Mavericks may have dodged disaster with Cooper Flagg's injury designation

If the Dallas Mavericks' injury designation for Cooper Flagg holds any weight, it seems like Dallas' star forward dodged suffering a serious injury against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

Cooper Flagg exits Mavericks-Pacers game with shoulder injury

Flagg injured his left shoulder on a second-quarter dunk attempt in transition.

Aaron Nesmith attempted a chase-down block, but it ended up being a hard foul (which was later ruled a Flagrant 1) in which Flagg landed on his left shoulder and never returned to the game. The Mavericks listed this injury as "left shoulder soreness," which offers some optimism considering how scary the fall initially looked.

This is the same shoulder Flagg injured as a rookie, causing immediate concern for Mavs fans when he was slow to get up. A scuffle immediately ensued, as Naji Marshall sprinted from half court to defend his teammate. This resulted in Nesmith and Marshall picking up double technical fouls while Flagg remained on the floor.

Seeing Flagg hold his left shoulder was extra concerning for MFFLs for multiple reasons. Seeing Flagg get injured at all is a major gut punch for fans due to his importance to his success, but this injury was extra frightening since it was the same shoulder that he injured last season.

The Mavs are counting on Flagg to be the team's cornerstone as they embark on this new era, making his health a major priority moving forward. His rookie year was plagued by many players around him dealing with injuries, and Coop going down in the second game of his second season, after playing 71 games as a rookie, would be devastating.

Flagg remained in the game and knocked down free throws, but he went back to the locker room before halftime and never returned to the floor. The Mavs' announcement that he would miss the rest of the game with shoulder soreness came in the third quarter.

Flagg's injury designation offers a reason for optimism

While the Mavericks need to provide more information before everyone jumps to any conclusions, the initial designation is encouraging.

UPDATE: Dusty May was asked about Flagg's status after the game, and he reiterated the point that he's dealing with left shoulder soreness, stating that he'll be evaluated in the next couple of days. This means that Dallas should provide more clarity on the severity of Flagg's injury and his availability soon.

Losing Flagg for an extended time would be an absolute nightmare, as he is crucial to what Dallas does on both ends of the floor, and a timetable for when he will return should be clearer in the next few days.

Mavericks fans will be hoping that the team held him out of the second half against Indiana to be precautionary, and Flagg's first chance to return will be tomorrow night against the San Antonio Spurs. While May's initial update doesn't look promising for Flagg to play tomorrow in the home opener, the injury report will give fans a better idea of whether he will suit up or if he could be out of the lineup for a while.

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