Cooper Flagg was down injured, and the Dallas Mavericks weren’t happy.
It was late in the first half on Friday night, and the Mavs were taking on the Indiana Pacers.
Flagg had been flying in for a fastbreak dunk, and Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith was trailing.
Nesmith leaped and fouled Flagg.
Flagg went down.
Nesmith was quickly surrounded by Mavericks.
Why Mavericks Confronted Aaron Nesmith
The Mavs clearly believed Nesmith had committed a dirty foul.
It can definitely get dangerous when a player is rising for a dunk and gets contacted from behind.
The optics weren’t great, no matter Nesmith’s intention.
Was it a Dirty Foul?
Based on what Nesmith was trying to do, it’s hard to say that it was dirty.
He was clearly leaping to try and block the ball from behind.
The problem, though, is that Flagg is tall and lanky and a great jumper. It’s hard to catch up and get the ball.
Nesmith, as you might expect, simply didn’t get high enough to make a play on the ball.
If Nesmith could’ve considered the odds of blocking the shot before he jumped, he might’ve realized that he was about to foul Flagg.
He may have known that and gone for it anyway. It’s not in the Pacers’ mindset to give up an easy two points.
Cooper Flagg INJURED after a DIRTY foul 😳 https://t.co/OhEDKAYUoQ
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) October 24, 2026
There’ll be a couple things to watch going forward to determine just how angry the Mavs will be about this after the game.
The first is simply if Flagg comes back in the game and is no worse for wear. If Flagg is OK, the Mavs might mostly bite their tongues.
If Flagg is hurt and misses time, though, they’ll surely be more annoyed at Nesmith.
It’s also worth seeing how Flagg specifically handles it. He’s the type of athlete who could potentially block a dunk attempt from behind on a fastbreak. So he knows how difficult such a play can be.
If Flagg handles the incident with grace, the rest of the Mavericks can potentially follow suit.
So keep an eye on Flagg’s status and if he has anything to say about this. That’ll be as telling as anything.
But yeah, visually, it was a tough one to see for Dallas fans, and it’s not the easiest one to defend for Indiana.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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