Mavs Injury Update: Luka Doncic Gets MRI
Luka Doncic landed awkwardly on his right foot during the Dallas Mavericks' 111-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, ending his night after 23 minutes of action. He still managed to total 31 points, eight rebounds, and four assists within his limited playing time. Before sustaining his injury, the Mavs led 87-54 with 6:47 remaining in the third quarter.
After Friday's practice, Mavs coach Jason Kidd shared an update regarding Doncic's injury. Kidd told reporters that Doncic underwent an MRI and did not participate in practice. The injury isn't believed to be significant.
Doncic recently returned after being sidelined due to a left ankle sprain. He was sidelined for all but three minutes of the Mavs' victory over the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 27. He missed their following game, which was a loss to the Utah Jazz to end a quick two-game road trip.
It wasn't a lengthy absence for Doncic as he returned for Monday's win over the Detroit Pistons, featuring an explosive 53-point performance from the Slovenian superstar. He tied Dirk Nowitzki for the second-highest scoring performance in Mavs history in what was his fourth performance with at least 50 points on the season.
Doncic is averaging 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.5 steals in 36.5 minutes per game. He is on track to join Michael Jordan as the only two players in NBA history to average a stat-line of 32-8-8 over the course of a full season, if his productions remains above those thresholds.
With the Mavs relying on Doncic's brilliance arguably more than any other NBA team depends on a single player, a lot hangs in the balance regarding his health updates. The team is 0-6 in games that Doncic doesn't log a single minute, but they did win the game against the Suns that he left early.
The Mavs' upcoming schedule offers a daunting set of Western Conference opponents in part of a five-game road trip, including games against the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, LA Clippers, and Sacramento Kings (two games). Without a firm timetable for return for Christian Wood and Maxi Kleber, Dallas is in dire need of Doncic's impact.
Despite all of the ups and downs that have come with the Mavs' underachieving month of January, they still manage to rank fourth in the Western Conference standings. There are thin lines separating them from having homecourt advantage for the first-round of the playoffs, being on the other side of that, landing in the play-in tournament, and even missing the playoffs altogether.
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