Dallas Basketball

Luka Doncic vs. Victor Wembanyama Part 2? Mavs, Spurs Injury Updates

The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs have already played two times this season, but Wednesday night's matchup could be the first time Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama have played against each other since the first game of the 2023-24 season.

Dalton Trigg

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The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs tipped off the 2023-24 season in exciting fashion, as Luka Doncic out-dueled rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama in his NBA debut with a 126-119 win on opening night. The Mavs won their second matchup against the Spurs as well on Dec. 23 as well, but it was in a 144-119 thumbing with Wembanyama sitting out after hurting his ankle in warm-ups.

Heading into Wednesday's matchup, which will be the third meeting between the two teams, it's very likely that we'll finally get Doncic vs. Wembanyama Part 2. According to the latest NBA injury reports, Wembanyama isn't listed, meaning that he's set to play after posting a triple-double with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks in a blowout win over the Toronto Raptors. Doncic is on Dallas' injury report due to his broken nose, but he's listed as probable. Here are the full reports for the Mavs and Spurs:

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Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Mavs Injury Report: Luka Doncic (nose) - probable, Kyrie Irving (thumb) - probable, Maxi Kleber (toe) - questionable, Dereck Lively II (nose) - questionable, Dante Exum (knee) - out.

Spurs Injury Report: Charles Bassey (ACL) - out, Marcus Morris Sr. (Not With Team) - out.

The biggest takeaway for the Mavs is that Dereck Lively II has been upgraded to being questionable after missing the last seven games with a broken nose. The rookie big man, who just celebrated his 20th birthday on Monday, has been a key piece for Dallas all season, averaging 9.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while shooting 73.9 percent from the field in 26.0 minutes per game.

Luka Doncic's Historic NBA Season: How Many Mavs Wins Can Claim MVP?

After being the Mavs' only reliable, consistent big man all season, he will finally have adequate frontcourt help when he returns to action thanks to Dallas' trade deadline acquisition of fifth-year center Daniel Gafford, who is averaging 17.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in his two games as a Maverick.

Although Wednesday's game could end up being a close, exiting game like the season opener was, the revamped Mavs are on a league-high-tying five-game win streak, and the tanking Spurs have lost eight of their last nine games. We're cautiously expecting the Mavs, who are 11.5-point favorites, to continue their winning ways as Doncic and Wembanyama duke it out for the second time.

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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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