Mavs Injury Update: Luka Doncic Returns From 3-Game Absence vs. LeBron James' Lakers

After missing three consecutive games with an ankle sprain, Luka Doncic is making his return to against against the Los Angeles Lakers as the Dallas Mavericks look to start off the second half of the season on a positive note.

Dalton Trigg | Jan 17, 2024

Mavs Injury Update: Luka Doncic Returns From 3-Game Absence vs. LeBron James' Lakers /

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Heading into Wednesday night's matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks have a 24-17 record, which is good enough for fifth-place in the Western Conference standings. The Mavs hope to tip-off the second half of the season on a positive note in L.A., and they'll have a great chance to do so while getting some key players back from injuries.

According to Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, Luka Doncic, who has missed the last three games due to an ankle sprain, will make his return to action against the Lakers. He is expected to be on a minutes restriction, though.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers — Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Derrick Jones Jr. (right calf contusion) and Grant Williams (right ankle sprain) will also be available after being listed as questionable earlier in the day. Josh Green (illness) and Dante Exum (right plantar sprain) will both be out. Anthony Davis will play for the Lakers, but as of one hour before tip-off, Lebron James is still listed as being questionable.

With Doncic out, Kyrie Irving led the Mavs to a 2-1 record while averaging 39.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.7 assists while shooting 49.4 percent from the field, including 42.4 percent from deep. Doncic, Irving and talented 19-year-old big man Dereck Lively have only played in 16 games together, but the Mavs have an 11-5 record in those games.

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Aside from Green's illness and Exum continuing to nurse his plantar sprain, the Mavs are starting to get healthy at the right time, and they'll have three weeks to fully assess their roster before the Feb. 8 trade deadline.

Published Jan 17, 2024

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.