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Luka Doncic could also be coming off of an ankle damage, but it surely hasn’t proven over his previous two video games. When he returned to the lineup towards the Detroit Pistons on Monday, he dropped 53 factors in a hard-fought victory. He was properly on his method to an analogous efficiency towards the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, however a freak accident could ship him again to sq. one.
The play got here within the third quarter with Dallas holding an unlimited 81-55 lead over New Orleans. Doncic used a display from Dwight Powell to get a clear lane to the basket, however when he went up for a dunk, he collided with Pelicans middle Jonas Valanciunas. He fell to the bottom seemingly in vital ache from there.
Doncic initially tried to play by means of the damage, however he wound up asking coach Jason Kidd to take away him. He went to the locker room from there, and the Mavericks have since dominated him out with a proper heel contusion.
Doncic missed solely two video games the final time he damage his foot, however the Mavericks actually cannot afford to be with out him for any extra time. At 27-25, the Mavericks could also be in possession of the No. 5 seed within the Western Conference for now, however they’re solely a sport and a half up on No. 11 Portland. Doncic is their solely constant generator of excellent pictures. If he has to overlook any prolonged time period, the Mavericks merely aren’t going to have the ability to rating sufficient factors to win video games.