The Dallas Mavericks have gone on a two-game win streak only thrice this season. Even without veterans like Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, the franchise could trust on rookie Cooper Flagg to provide stability. Now that season’s stablity is in question after the 19-year-old exited the game against the Denver Nuggets after getting injured in his ankle.

In the press conference, head coach Jason Kidd confirmed that Cooper Flagg did sprain his left ankle. “Yeah, he stepped on someone’s foot. And so I think the last game he twisted his ankle too. So they decided to hold him for the second half. And so next man up.”

While speaking about his availability against Utah on Thursday, the HC dejectedly said, “Don’t know.”

During the second quarter, with about six minutes left on the clock, Nuggets forward Peyton Watson unintentionally clashed with the Mavs forward. Flagg landed awkwardly on his left ankle, twisting it. Head coach Jason Kidd immediately called a timeout as the forward headed straight to the locker room.

He briefly returned, but was still favoring his ankle and left the game again at halftime. The Duke alum was not able put his entire pressure on his left leg, and hobbled away from the team.

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While he did not return in the third quarter, another injury hit the Dallas roster. Veteran center Daniel Gafford also sprained his ankle and did not return. In the third quarter, Gafford went down after a collision with Spencer Jones.

Immediately, the Mavs star looked in a lot of pain and limped to the bench. On the sidelines, he even tried stretching and tried to walk it off, but to no avail.

The front court is already light without Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II. But the head coach is not too concerned about the injuries, as it has been a recurring theme for them this season.

“This is a hard time for us,” said Kidd. “We’ve had a lot of injuries. We kind of joke when we say that we’re getting healthy. But we’ve been hurt since day one of training camp. And so this is the norm. This is who we are. And so the character has been displayed in tough times of being down, but we keep fighting. And so we always say next man up, but that is a true statement. ”

And that spirit showed in their fight against the Nuggets.

Without Cooper Flagg, the Mavs still showed character

“The next man up” mentality was truly on display in the loss to the Nuggets. With Cooper Flagg and Gafford on the sidelines, Denver built up a lead as large as 23 in the third quarter. But the Mavs never gave up.

From 84-61 with 4:30 remaining in the third to 88-83, a minute into the fourth, Kidd’s team found some momentum. Dallas went on a 23-4 run fueled by Brandon Williams, Naji Marshall, and Caleb Martin.

Denver would again build the lead back up by 16 midway through the fourth, but the Mavs refused to go away again. The Nuggets’ lead was 108-93 with 5:36 left. Dallas ripped off a 14-5 run that got them back within six points. Williams was again the catalyst for this spark, but they would never cut the lead below six. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, the Nuggets would go on to win 118-109.

This game also ended Cooper Flagg‘s 39 consecutive games scoring in double figures, as he had 6 points before he was ruled out. But as the head coach said, that shouldn’t discount the big performances from Naji Marshall (24 points) and Brandon Williams (20 points). They will have to bear the responsibility again as they faced the Jazz next.