The Dallas Mavericks will reportedly be without superstar Luka Doncic for the foreseeable future.
Doncic sustained a calf injury in the second quarter of the Mavs’ Christmas Day contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
The Mavericks star planted his left foot on a drive late in the first half. Doncic quickly signaled to Dallas’ bench to ask for a substitution. He headed to the locker room shortly thereafter and did not return to the game.
Doncic’s calf will be reevaluated after a month, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will be re-evaluated in one month after sustaining a left calf strain on Christmas Day, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/HVrzlaEzOR
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 27, 2024
Doncic underwent an MRI on Thursday. Prior to that, initial reports indicated that Doncic was expected to be out for “an extended period of time.”
Barring a miraculous recovery, Doncic will be disqualified from All-NBA consideration and end-of-season awards. He has already missed eight games this season with the awards threshold set at a maximum of 17 missed games.
Even if Doncic were able to return in exactly a month for the Mavericks’ Jan. 25 game against the Boston Celtics, that would mean an absence of 15 games for the Slovenian superstar.
Through 30 games, the Mavericks have a 19-11 record and rank fourth in the Western Conference.
The team has performed well without Doncic thus far. The Mavs has gone 6-2 in the eight games Doncic missed before his latest injury.
But given how competitive the West is, losing Doncic for at least a month could be a serious test for Dallas’ postseason hopes. Only four games separate the Mavs from the 11th-placed San Antonio Spurs.
