At this morning’s shootaround, Mavericks star Luka Doncic was still feeling the effects of a right knee sprain he suffered in Game 3, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Dallas had two days off after Sunday’s Game 4 loss, but the extra time may not be enough to make a difference for Doncic. Townsend observed that he did limited running at the shootaround, and the knee seemed to stiffen up whenever he tried to do anything more than jog.
“Nothing, honestly,” Doncic said when asked what he did during the session. “Just treatment, a lot of treatments. Fitness. But basketball, I just shot. Nothing explosive.”
Doncic was noticeably slowed by the knee in Sunday’s game, even though he scored 29 points and posted a triple-double. He shot just 10-of-24 from the field and 1-of-9 from three-point range as Kyrie Irving led a comeback after the Mavs fell behind by 31 points.
On top of the knee issue, Doncic is dealing with an upper-respiratory illness. He admitted that he probably wouldn’t try to play tonight if it were a regular season game, but that’s not an option in the playoffs.
“I’ve been in this situation a lot, been playing through injuries a lot, so nothing,” Doncic said. “Just go out there, have fun and do everything you can do for your team to win.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- After resurrecting his NBA career with the Mavericks this season, Dante Exum has struggled in the first four games of the playoffs, notes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. A 49% shooter from beyond the arc during the regular season, Exum has missed all five of his three-point attempts during the series and is shooting just 1-of-11 overall. His playing time has been cut to 8.5 minutes per game as coach Jason Kidd has tightened his rotation, but Exum is determined to help any way he can. “No matter if it’s one minute, two minutes, it’s trying to provide that energy,” he said. “If I can make an impact in the time I get, that’s the goal. Hopefully it can just grow off that and I continue to get more minutes.”
- Zion Williamson has made the Pelicans more confident that he can be the cornerstone of their future, multiple team sources tell William Guillory of The Athletic. Injury and conditioning concerns hung over Williamson during his first four NBA seasons, but he was much more durable this year, appearing in 70 games and logging 31.5 minutes per night. In addition to his on-court production, Williamson also became a more vocal leader.
- Nick Moyle of The San Antonio Express-News examines how the Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama was able to incorporate a step-back jumper into his arsenal during his rookie year.
Pels should sell high on Zion. Is he ever going to be as healthy as he was this year? Even then when it mattered most his body let him and the team down. Is that really who you want to bank the franchise on?