Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd spoke extensively about the impact of Cooper Flagg’s left ankle injury following Wednesday’s 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
“Yeah, I thought we got it to six and Klay had a good look. I think they cut it to three and then they go on a 10-0 run,” Kidd said. “The guys fought. We didn’t shoot the ball well at all tonight from the free throw line or from the three.”
Kidd confirmed that Flagg was sidelined in the second half after spraining his left ankle: “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.”
Daniel Gafford also missed the second half with a right ankle sprain, compounding Dallas’ frontcourt issues: “Yeah, I think when you lose Coop and Gaff to sprained ankles, two guys you’re dependent on… next man up, and the group that was out there fighting gave us a chance.”
Despite injuries, Kidd praised Caleb Martin for his energy and effort: “He was great. His energy, his fight, he’s a big part of the reason why we were in the game. He was competing on the defensive end and the offensive end.”
On maintaining intensity during adversity, Kidd added: “They have no choice. That’s the simple answer. They’re pros. Your character is going to be tested in hard times. And this is a hard time for us. We’ve had a lot of injuries.”
Kidd highlighted contributions from younger players: “Because of the injuries, our two ways give us a spark. Ryan was good tonight. B-Will was good. And Miles has some great looks. I just didn’t go down for him tonight.”
The coach also emphasized Denver star Jamal Murray’s difficulty to defend: “He’s good. He should have been an all-star probably a couple years ago, but he should be an all-star this year. He’s one that can take over the game, and we saw that tonight.”
Naji Marshall’s back-to-back 20-point games drew praise: “Yeah, he was big for us scoring-wise. He’s taking full advantage of the opportunity of handling the ball, getting us in our offense, and then his scoring ability and the paint has been at a high level here for us.”
Brandon Williams, making his return off the bench, also impressed Kidd: “I thought he was a little rusty, but there late, he started to find his groove, getting into the paint and then getting to the free throw line. I think he had 12 free throws attempted. And so that’s really good. We’re going to need that as we go forward.”
Denver’s Jamal Murray led all scorers with 33 points, while Aaron Gordon added 22 and Peyton Watson contributed 18. The Nuggets controlled most of the game, holding off Dallas’ fourth-quarter surge and improving to 28-13.
Dallas remains at 15-25 and faces the Utah Jazz on Thursday, still coping with a depleted roster from injuries to Flagg, Gafford, Anthony Davis, and Dereck Lively II.
