Dallas Mavs Injury Update: Luka Doncic Practices as Season Opener vs. San Antonio Spurs Looms
DALLAS — As the Dallas Mavericks approach Wednesday's regular season-opening matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, more information about Luka Doncic's status as he recovers from a mild calf strain has been made available.
After Monday's practice, Mavs coach Jason Kidd told reporters that Doncic participated in doing "almost everything," creating optimism about his chances of playing against the Spurs.
"Luka went through practice today," Kidd said on Monday. "The plan is for him to practice again tomorrow, and we'll see how he feels."
Doncic injured his calf during the Mavs' practice at Real Madrid City before facing Real Madrid at WiZink Center. The injury caused Doncic to be limited to just five minutes of playing time in the game despite his desire to play more. After the game, Doncic described his injury as "nothing serious" to reporters.
"It was my calf yesterday in practice, nothing serious," Doncic said in Madrid. "They just don't want to make it worse, you know? I tried to go and talk to the front office people, but you know me, I wish I played 40 minutes but couldn't."
Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic posting up against Real Madrid.
Pedro Castillo
Since the Mavs' return to Texas from their 12-day international trip, Doncic underwent an MRI and was limited to doing light on-court work and using the bike until Monday. The team could not determine a timetable for his return last week ahead of Friday's preseason finale against the Detroit Pistons.
“[We] don’t have a timetable yet,” Kidd said on Thursday. “He’s still being evaluated, and we’ll see how he feels in the next week. He continues to do on-court work and is progressing. My hope is that he resumes practicing next week, but we'll see where we are after the weekend."
Doncic is coming off a season that featured earning his fourth All-NBA First-Team nod, averaging 32.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists in 66 games. The Mavs finished with a 38-44 record, failing to qualify for the play-in tournament in the Western Conference.
