Will Luka Doncic play against the Mavericks in game 5 of the NBA Finals?

The Dallas Mavericks have one last chance to extend their postseason as they head into tonight’s Game 5 trailing 3-1 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Star player Luka Doncic hit 29 points for the Mavs in their heroic Game 4 fightback last week - serving Boston their heaviest defeat since 1995. But even he will know that the chances of overturning the series at this stage are slim to nonexistent.

Doncic says the Mavs will keep believing

“It doesn’t change anything,” he said after Friday’s 84-122 win at American Airline Center. “Like I said at the beginning of the series, it’s first to four and we’re going to believe until the end. So we’ve just go to keep going. I have big belief in this team that we can do it. We’ve just got to keep believing”.

Doncic’s fitness concerns during the playoffs

Doncic’s own sense of self belief has been tested to the limit throughout these playoffs. He has spent most of it playing through the pain barrier, while dealing with diverse fitness issues. And while he has not missed a game, he has appeared on Dallas’ injury list a few times since the postseason got underway in April. He was doubtful until the last minute for Game 2 during this series and has been receiving treatment for discomfort in his right knee and left ankle for several weeks.

More recently, the Slovenian has been struggling to recover from bruising to his chest. He has been treated with pain killing injections in order to suit-up for every game despite playing down the injury when speaking to the media: “I’m fine. I don’t want to give more details, but I feel good,” he stated last week.

Ahead of tonight’s crucial Game 5 matchup at TD Garden, Doncic appears as “probable” on the Mavs’ injury report. That means that unless something unexpected happens between now and this evening, he will start the game against Boston.

In this series against the Celtics, Luka has averaged 37.8 minutes on court, adding 29.5 points, eight rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. He has averaged 25 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the free-throw line - showing just how much the team depends on him.