Mavericks' Cooper Flagg out with an illness, misses his first NBA game

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DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks' Cooper Flagg was listed out with an illness for Wednesday night's game against the New York Knicks, missing his first NBA game.

The top pick in this year's NBA draft has averaged 15.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 34 minutes per game. He has had three 20-point games with a high of 26 on Nov. 10 in a two-point loss to Milwaukee.

The 18-year-old from Duke has primarily played point guard for the first time because of the Mavericks’ current dearth of playmakers, with Kyrie Irving out until at least December while recovering from surgery on his left ACL last March.

By missing Wednesday’s game, Flagg will have three game days off between back-to-backs in Dallas’ schedule. Sunday’s win over Portland went to overtime and he played a season-low 27 minutes on Monday night in a 120-96 loss at Minnesota.

Flagg is shooting 45.5% from the floor, 29.3% on 3-pointers and 78.3% on free throws after hitting his first 24 from the line through eight games.

The Mavericks were 2-8 in their last 10 games played without 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, who has been sidelined by a strained left calf. The 32-year-old Davis isn’t expected back until Sunday at the earliest.

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