APRIL 11: An MRI confirmed Doncic’s calf strain, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. The Mavs have not set a timetable for his return and won’t be obligated to provide an update on Doncic’s status for Game 1 until later in the week.
APRIL 10: Star guard Luka Doncic left the Mavericks‘ regular season finale vs. San Antonio on Sunday in the third quarter due to what the team is calling a left calf strain (Twitter link). Doncic limped to the locker room after sustaining the injury and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.
It’s certainly not great timing for Doncic and the Mavericks, who have earned the No. 4 seed in the West and are looking to make a deep playoff run this spring.
As Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes observes (via Twitter), calf strains can result in a wide range of recovery timelines depending on the severity and the location. On average, a player who sustained the injury this season was out for 16 days, per Stotts, but some players returned much quicker than that.
One factor working in Doncic’s favor is that Dallas’ first-round series won’t tip off until Saturday, so he’ll have the better part of a week to try to get healthy. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), there’s initial optimism that the All-NBA guard hasn’t suffered a significant injury.
It looked earlier this weekend as if Doncic wouldn’t even be active for the Mavs’ regular season finale, since he was assessed with his 16th technical foul on Friday night, which would have triggered an automatic one-game suspension. However, the NBA rescinded that technical on Saturday, allowing Doncic to suit up on Sunday.
If Doncic has to miss any playoff games, the Mavs would lean more heavily on point guards Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie for scoring and play-making.
And that’s exactly why some teams prioritize health in the finale over seeding. Easy to say in hindsight but still.
He did not return; that was the precaution. Doncic always seems to have something off but keeps shooting!
What?
He often has a hurt or favors something or complains to the ref about what someone did. He keeps going, but this time not.
Man, that sucks for him & DAL, specially as they had a walk in the park easy first round vs UTA & a winnable second round vs PHO, that could have been a very good run for them, yikes!
No worries it still will, he’ll be back.
You guys are drinking too much of the Mavs Kool-aid. The playoffs and the regular season are a different animal.
I wouldn’t get too excited until you see how your team does in the first few games. The home games tell some, but the road games are where champions are made.
Guess we’ll see if Donovan was just saving himself for the playoffs or not. Still, it’d be more satisfying if the Jazz beat the Mavs with Luka. Then again, seems like some years the last team is mostly the one that stays the healthiest the longest, but not always.
I don’t understand why he played. The Warriors clinched the 3 the day before didn’t they?
The Mavs could still have gotten the No. 3 seed if the Warriors lost on Sunday.
He should have stayed suspended
Lol to think this would have all been avoided if Doncic just served his suspension like he probably should have. Congratulations, you played yourself.
Suspension loses game check.
@lambeau gang… Wow, man, now we are hating players for wanting to play & fulfill their contractual obligations & even more important compete & give the fans what they pay for, SMH!
BTW everyone & their granny knows that more injuries happen during training sessions than in games, but yes keep telling yourself whatever suits your narrative!