DALLAS — Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg did not return after halftime of Wednesday’s 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets because of a sprained left ankle.
The team announced early in the third quarter that Flagg, the No. 1 draft pick, had been ruled out for the rest of the game.
Coach Jason Kidd did not have an update on Flagg after the game, and Flagg was not available to reporters.
“He stepped on someone’s foot,” Kidd said. “Last game, he twisted his ankle, too. We decided to hold him [out] for the second half.”
Flagg twisted the ankle while defending Denver’s Peyton Watson on a drive with 6:01 left in the second quarter. Flagg, who was called for a foul on the play, limped off the court and straight into the tunnel with Mavs athletic trainer Jana Austin following him.
Flagg returned with 2:35 left but winced on multiple occasions while playing the rest of the quarter.
It was the second consecutive game that Flagg twisted the ankle. He returned in Monday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets after having the ankle retaped.
Flagg, the Rookie of the Year favorite who is averaging 19.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists, has played all but one game this season despite dealing with multiple injuries. His lone absence was because of illness in a Nov. 19 loss to the New York Knicks.
The Mavs also lost center Daniel Gafford to a sprained right ankle early in the third quarter. That ankle has bothered him since he sprained it during the first practice of training camp.
Kidd said he didn’t know whether Flagg or Gafford would play the second game of a back-to-back against the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.
“This is a hard time for us,” Kidd said. “We have had a lot of injuries. … We have been hurt since day one of training camp. This is the norm. The character has been displayed in tough times of being down. But we keep fighting.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
