Dallas Mavericks All-Star combo guard Luka Doncic suffered a spooky-looking hamstring injury late into a matchup with the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, which Dallas did eventually win, 109-99.
He finished with a solid-if-not-spectacular 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field (1-of-6 from long range, continuing a season of inconsistency from three point land). The 25-year-old also dished out nine dimes and pulled down three boards. Doncic subsequently missed Dallas’ next game yesterday, a 126-119 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the top seed in the Western Conference.
It appears, however, that Mavs fans have nothing to fear when it comes to Doncic’s health long-term. Though the club is just the West’s eight seed with a 38-29 on the season, Dallas does boast some high upside, thanks to the presence of Doncic and fellow All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, and some fortified wing and frontcourt depth that seems to have helped the club grow from its finish as the No. 11 seed last season. If everyone’s healthy, the Mavericks could still make some noise in the playoffs. The Athletic’s Shams Charania revealed the results of the latest imaging on Doncic’s pesky hamstring during a segment on the FanDuel TV program “Run It Back,” alongside Michelle Beadle and Lou Williams.
“Good news for the Mavericks, the MRI was clean on that hamstring, it’s not believed to be a serious injury,” Charania said. “He’s going to be reevaluated today [and] tomorrow. They have that showdown against the Nuggets on Sunday, there’s obviously hope internally with the Mavericks that Luka Doncic will be fine for that game on Sunday, but it’s a hamstring. It’s really going to be a day-by-day process. But the good news for the Mavericks is that it’s really more of a… day-to-day injury than anything that’s going to cost them significant time.”
Across 58 contests thus far this season, the 6’7″ superstar has been averaging 34.3 points on .494/.378/.788 shooting splits, 9.8 assists, and nine rebounds a night. With Doncic on the shelf against the Thunder Thursday, Irving took flight, scoring 36 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor (4-of-7 from distance) and 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line. He also dished out 12 assists, grabbed four rebounds, and notched a pair of steals in the defeat.
Dallas should be able to survive without Doncic for the next few games. As Charania had noted, the Mavericks are slated to square off against the reigning league champion Denver Nuggets in a Sunday matinee. That was probably going to be a loss with or without Doncic in tow. The team will next have a breezy schedule across the succeeding week, with matchups slated against a tandem of tanking West teams, the 14-52 San Antonio Spurs and the 28-37 Utah Jazz (twice).
Leave a Reply