How long will Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic be out with his ankle injury?

We always knew, that the only way to stop the Slovenian star’s record-breaking season was injury, but that’s not to say we wanted it to happen. As things stand, all his team can do is hope he will be back soon.

Luka Doncic sidelined by ankle injury

If you missed it, on Thursday night the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Phoenix Suns by a tight score of 99-95. Yet, the bigger story out of the contest, was the fact that Slovenian sensation, Luka Doncic, was forced off the court in the first quarter, after suffering what appeared to be an ankle injury. To that end, it came as no surprise when the Mavericks announced on Friday that Doncic will miss Saturday night’s game against the Utah Jazz. Regarding how the injury actually occurred, it was actually quite early in the 1st when Doncic attempted to drive to the basket, but was promptly cut off by Cameron Johnson. At that point, the newly named All-Star spun in the opposite direction, only to step on Mikal Bridges’ foot, at which point he rolled his ankle. Doncic’s discomfort could be seen immediately, as he hobbled back up the court. Moments later, the Mavs called a timeout and he was removed and taken straight to the locker room. It’s worth mentioning, that while he was able to move on his own steam, he was in clear pain.

How do the Mavericks cope with Luka Doncic’s absence?

Truth be told, there really isn’t a way to compensate for that kind of loss. When Doncic plays, he’s among the best in the business and the Mavericks profit off of that. In his last game prior to Thursday, he put 41 points on the board, to go with 15 rebounds and six assists on 16 of 29 from the field in what turned out to be a loss to the Wizards. Where the season as a whole is concerned, Doncic is averaging 33 points per game. This is all to say, that there is no good time to lose Doncic, even if it’s just one game. The matter is made worse, by the fact that Dallas’ second highest scorer, Christian Wood is already out with an injury as well.

By now you can probably see, that without Doncic the Mavs have few options. Yet, it would be remiss to not mention Spencer Dinwiddie. On Thursday night, Dinwiddie stepped up to the plate in the Slovenian’s absence, with 36 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Dinwiddie’s performance, along with what has been a solid defense this season could yet pay dividends for the Mavericks. Ultimately, Doncic is listed as day-to-day so it doesn’t look like he’s going to be out for a lengthy period of time, which is just as well with some tough road games coming up against teams such as the Warriors, Kings and Clippers. Get better soon Luka.