Mavs Injury Report: Luka Doncic DOUBTFUL For Mavs vs. Jazz Game 1

The Dallas Mavericks are listing Luka Doncic as doubtful for Saturday’s opening playoff game against the Utah Jazz.

Dalton Trigg | Apr 15, 2022

The Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz are getting ready to play Game 1 of their first-round series on Saturday at American Airlines Center. Much of the attention has been placed on the injury status of superstar Luka Doncic, who suffered a calf strain in Sunday's 130-120 season-finale win over the San Antonio Spurs.

On Monday, an MRI confirmed the diagnosis. Despite Doncic undergoing treatment throughout the week, the quick turnaround before the playoff opener raised doubt about his status.

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

Doncic grabs at his calf.

gettyimages-1388614562-594x594 — Tim Heitman/Getty Images

Mitchell attacks Bullock.

gettyimages-1388614443-594x594 — Tim Heitman/Getty Images

Dinwiddie takes the ball up vs. Conley.

The Mavs on Friday listed Doncic as doubtful for Game 1.

Regardless of Doncic’s status for this series, some believe that the Mavs can beat the Jazz no matter what.

"I think Utah is (a) dead man walking," former NBA player Brian Scalabrine said when he joined Shan and RJ on 105.3 The Fan. "I think they're going to blow it up after this offseason. I think they're going to try to reshuffle the deck. I just feel like something's about to happen.

"There are a lot of expectations for Ryan Smith, who just brought the team, (and) they thought they were going to be a championship contender. And you just watched this season and you realize that they're not.

Doncic looks on as Mavs beat the Spurs on Sunday.

Jazz, Gobert, Mitchell — Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

Mitchell and Gobert.

Spencer Dinwiddie, Dallas Mavericks — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Dinwiddie is a potential X-factor to watch for in the first round.

"No matter what happens (with Luka), I think Dallas will get out of this series."

If the Mavs don't win this series, it will be disappointing for Dallas. Still, Doncic's unfortunate injury luck will give the Mavs a built-in excuse if they fail to get out of the first round.

But if the Jazz don't win this series?

Well, if that happens, it will mean that the already-mounting pressure may became too much to handle for a team that has already started to split at the seams. It'll also mean that the Mavs' role players are better than what they generally get credit for.

Published Apr 15, 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.