NBA
What is Luka Doncic’s injury status for Game 3 against OKC Thunder?
The Dallas Mavericks guard has played with a sprained right knee since the first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Luka Doncic’s participation in the third game, to be held on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT) of the NBA Western semifinals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder, is in doubt. The Slovenian guard was listed on the injury report as having a sprained right knee and pain in his left ankle.
During the third game of the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers, Doncic suffered a knee injury. Later in the postseason, in the last quarter of the second game against the Thunder, he suffered an ankle injury when his foot got caught on Cason Wallace.
The Dallas team has also ruled out Maxi Kleber due to a shoulder dislocation and Olivier-Maxence Prosper due to a sprained left ankle. On the other hand, OKC has reported no injuries.
Despite experiencing some discomfort in the lower part of his body, the man from Ljubljana has been able to average 24 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 2.5 steals against the Thunder while playing for 41 minutes per game. In the regular season, Doncic scored 33.9 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.2 rebounds on average. He also finished third in the season MVP voting, behind Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of OKC.
How did the Mavericks do in the regular season without Luka Doncic?
During the regular season, Doncic was absent for 12 games due to injuries or the coach’s decision to keep him inactive. Unfortunately, the Mavericks only managed to win four of those games. One of the losses was a severe defeat by the Thunder, who won by a score of 135-86. With that victory, the Oklahoma City team secured the first position in the NBA Western Conference.