Luka Doncic Injury Update: Mavs Reveal MRI Results for Playoffs

Will the Dallas Mavericks superstar be ready to go for Saturday’s Game 1 vs. the Utah Jazz?

Dalton Trigg | Apr 11, 2022

Although the Dallas Mavericks put a nice cap on what was their best season in over a decade by sweeping the San Antonio Spurs for the first time ever, worry over superstar Luka Doncic’s status for the first round of the playoffs ensued as he strained his calf on Sunday night.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic strikes a pose.

USATSI_18060347 — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavs will face the Jazz in the first round.

Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks — Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Can the Mavs potentially beat the Jazz without Doncic?

In a game that the Mavs had to win in order to have any shot at the third seed in the West, coach Jason Kidd was planning to sit all of his starters in the fourth quarter based on the Warriors-Pelicans score at the time. Unfortunately, though, Doncic endured a fluke calf injury before the Mavs got to that point.

On Monday, the MRI results for Doncic’s calf were revealed. He officially has a calf strain, as expected, but the severity of the sprain has not yet been made known. The Mavs have not set a timetable for Doncic’s return.

Knowing Doncic, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he ended up being ready to go for Game 1 against the Utah Jazz at American Airlines Center on Saturday. He’s as tough of a player as they come, he’s got nearly a full week off before the start of the postseason, and he has one of the best training staffs in the world led by Director of Player Health and Performance, Casey Smith.

Doncic drives to the rim.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs — Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic vs. Lonnie Walker IV.

gettyimages-1390393636-594x594 — Tim Heitman/Getty Images

Dwight Powell now holds the Mavs’ franchise record for most consecutive made field goals (18).

Whether Doncic plays or not, the Mavs are still capable of beating the Jazz, although they won’t be favored to do so. In the two games Doncic hasn’t played in since the Mavs traded Kristaps Porzingis, Spencer Dinwiddie has averaged 31 points and 6.5 assists while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from 3-point range. Dallas won both of those games.

The Mavs tied the Jazz in their regular-season series, 2-2. In the two losses, the Mavs only lost by four and five points, respectively, and the four-point loss was on Christmas Day when Dallas had to start Sterling Brown and Frank Ntilikina due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com this week for extensive Mavs playoffs coverage.

Published Apr 11, 2022

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.