Dallas Basketball

‘Green Light?’: Mavs Upgrade Luka Doncic For Game 3 vs. Jazz

It appears that Luka Doncic’s series debut is imminent.

Dalton Trigg

The Dallas Mavericks are getting ready to take on the Utah Jazz in Game 3 of their first-round series on Thursday night in Salt Lake City. Dallas tied things up on Monday night at 1-1 after an unbelievable performance from Jalen Brunson.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
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Jalen Brunson, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz
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As Game 3 nears, it appears that Luka Doncic’s return to action is imminent. Earlier on Wednesday, videos surfaced from Mavs practice showing Doncic ramping up his on-court activity.

Now, the Mavs have officially upgraded Doncic from doubtful to questionable for Game 3 — a sign that things continue to trend in the right direction for him with no setbacks. Coach Jason Kidd mention after practice that Doncic playing would depend on how he feels Thursday.

"He’s doing the work that the medical staff has asked him to do, and there hasn’t been any setback," Kidd said. "He feels great, so I think he just continues to come in with that good attitude that at some point, he’ll get that green light to play.”

Jalen Brunson, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz
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Doncic gave his own thoughts on his status heading into Game 3 as well.

"If there's no risk of (further) injury, I'll be out there," Doncic said on Wednesday after practice. “Today and yesterday I did a little bit. We shouldn’t rush anything, but step by step, I think I’m improving a lot, and I’m getting better.”

The shorthanded Mavs did their part in Game 2 by winning and giving Doncic more time to recover with less pressure. Now, Doncic can potentially come back and relieve some on-court for his teammates.

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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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