Flagg and Lively Ruled Out Until at Least Monday: Dallas Frontcourt Thins Further for Spurs Visit
Saturday's Spurs-Mavericks injury picture has hardened since Friday's preview: Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively II are both ruled out until at least Monday, leaving Dallas without its franchise player and its starting big for the home opener.
The injury question that hung over Saturday night's Spurs game in Dallas has been answered, and the answer is worse for the Mavericks than Friday's preview suggested. Sports Mole's Saturday NBA preview, published Saturday morning, reports that Dallas returns home from its 121-105 road win at Indiana on Friday without Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively II, both ruled out until at least Monday.
Flagg's absence was already a serious doubt. The Mavericks' franchise player suffered a left shoulder injury Friday against Indiana after a flagrant foul by Aaron Nesmith on a breakaway sent him to the floor, finished with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists in 17 minutes, and was ruled out for the rest of that game. Friday's reporting put his evaluation over the next couple of days and listed him as a serious doubt for Saturday. The Saturday preview moves him — and Lively, Dallas's starting big — from doubtful to out.
That guts Dallas's frontcourt depth for its home opener at the American Airlines Center and removes the Mavericks' most dynamic young weapon, Sports Mole notes, adding that the market has responded by making San Antonio the favorite despite the Spurs' 0-2 start and back-to-back schedule. The reason, the preview says, is Victor Wembanyama: with Lively sidelined, the Spurs' center faces a significantly reduced defensive challenge at the rim, and his two-way impact can swing the game even on no rest.
San Antonio arrives at 0-2 after losses to Oklahoma City and Houston, the second a 114-110 loss in Austin on Friday in which Wembanyama scored 25 points with 13 rebounds before Amen Thompson blocked his last-second try. Dallas is 1-1. Kyrie Irving, who led Dallas with 24 points in under 25 minutes on Friday, is now a meaningfully weaker proposition without his starting big and without Flagg beside him, the preview concludes — its pick is San Antonio to win. Tipoff is 7 p.m. Central in Dallas. This story updates SQ-20261024-004, Friday's preview, which carried Flagg as doubtful; the desk will file the game story within 45 minutes of the final whistle.
