Dallas Basketball

Mavs Star Luka Doncic ‘Up All Night With Illness’? NBA Playoffs Rumor

Perhaps this is why Luka Doncic had such an uncharacteristic performance against the Warriors in Game 1.

Dalton Trigg

Very rarely do we see Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic put up a bad performance. Although 20 points on 6-18 shooting in Game 1 of a Western Conference Finals series would be considered a decent performance for a handful of players, it falls short of Doncic’s lofty standards, especially in the postseason.

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Harry How/Getty Images

Although it’s merely a rumor, we could have an explanation for Doncic’s poor performance and body language at Chase Center on Wednesday night as the Mavs got blown out, 112-87.

According to TNT’s play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan, Doncic could be battling an illness right now that is hampering his play.

"I hear he’s sick today,” said Harlan while joining KNBR’s Greg Papa and John Lund on Thursday. “I guess he was up most of the night and ill. I’ve heard it now from two different people, so I’m assuming it’s probably true.”

In the Mavs’ close-out game against the Utah Jazz in the first round, coach Jason Kidd revealed that 3-and-D man Reggie Bullock was “sick as a dog,” but played through the illness.

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Harry How/Getty Images

Given the rumor, it could be that a bug is making its way around the Mavs’ roster, and it’s just now got to Doncic. The good news for Dallas, though, is that if Doncic was able to play through it in Game 1, perhaps it’s nothing that will linger as the series progresses.

Game 2 will tip-off at 8 p.m. CT on Friday night, as the Mavs try to even the series at 1-1 before it shifts to Dallas. We’ll be keeping a close eye on Doncic’s play and body language yet again. Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for updates.

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Dalton Trigg
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.

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