DALLAS (AP) — Dwight Powell walked to the bench with blood streaming down his forehead while teammate Kessler Edwards lay flat on his back holding his head.
The Dallas Mavericks have lost Kyrie Irving to a season-ending knee injury, and there's no timetable for Anthony Davis' return after the star forward injured a groin in his Dallas debut following the stunning trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Click to Gallery
An open cut is seen on the eye of Dallas Mavericks forward Kessler Edwards after he collided with teammate center Dwight Powell during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks players, from left, Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Jaden Hardy, and P.J. Washington wear street clothes as they watch the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks forward Kessler Edwards, left, and center Dwight Powell react after colliding while chasing a rebound against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks forward Kessler Edwards, left, and center Dwight Powell react after colliding while chasing a rebound against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The latest might be the lowest for the Mavs. They finished a 125-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday with just seven healthy players, and that was with Edwards getting back on the floor with a bandage over his left eye.
Dallas began the game with nine active players, and was down to seven after the heads of Edwards and Powell collided as they chased a loose ball late in the third quarter. Both needed stitches, coach Jason Kidd said.
Powell never returned after getting treated on the bench to stop the bleeding and going on to the locker room. About the time Kessler came back in the fourth quarter, guard Brandon Williams was ruled out with left hamstring tightness.
Caleb Martin was playing for just the second time since returning from a right hip sprain that sidelined him going back to before the trade that brought him from Philadelphia last month. Dante Exum has been nursing a right foot injury. Both were on minutes restrictions.
“We had no subs because of the time restrictions on two,” Kidd said. “We're trying to figure it out as we go.”
Oh, and the Mavs have to play again Monday night in San Antonio. Kidd seemed sure nobody was coming off an injured list that also includes P.J. Washington Jr. (ankle), Kai Jones (quadriceps) and Jaden Hardy (ankle).
There are more. Those are just three with any kind of a chance to return soon.
“We're probably going to have seven, eight at the most,” Kidd said of the first of consecutive road games against the Spurs.
Naji Marshall had a career high for the second consecutive game with 34 points and played more than 40 minutes for the first time in his career. He wasn't even one of the three who played the entire fourth quarter.
“Honestly, I haven’t,” Marshall said when the fifth-year pro was asked if he had seen anything similar with injuries. “But this is our job. All those guys in the front office signed all of us on the roster hoping that if we had to play we could fill the shoes of the next man. I’m just going to keep doing that until those guys get back.”
Besides Irving and Davis, the longer-term injured list includes centers Daniel Gafford (knee) and Dereck Lively II (ankle) and Olivier-Maxence Prosper (wrist).
It's possible all five won't play again this season for the defending Western Conference champions, who will have a hard time holding off Phoenix or possibly others for 10th place, the final spot in the West play-in tournament.
Suns star Kevin Durant had 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as Phoenix pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Mavs.
“It’s definitely one of the first I’ve seen where they’re just straight injuries and not tanking,” Durant said. “Guys are genuinely injured for longer than a couple of weeks. It's sad to see a lot of players out.”
After the game, Kidd was asked jokingly about whether he and assistant coach Jared Dudley could provide any minutes off the bench. Kidd was a Hall of Fame point guard, and Dudley is just four years removed from his playing days.
“I don't think we can do that,” Kidd said. “We can't sign anybody. It does cost too much. You've gotta laugh because if you don't, this will drive you crazy.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
An open cut is seen on the eye of Dallas Mavericks forward Kessler Edwards after he collided with teammate center Dwight Powell during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks players, from left, Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Jaden Hardy, and P.J. Washington wear street clothes as they watch the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks forward Kessler Edwards, left, and center Dwight Powell react after colliding while chasing a rebound against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks forward Kessler Edwards, left, and center Dwight Powell react after colliding while chasing a rebound against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.
Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.
By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.
“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”
Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.
It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.
Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.
Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.
“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.
Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.
The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.
Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.
When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.
Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.
“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”
Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.
“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”
And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.
Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.
Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.
There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.
While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.
Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.
Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.
“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
