The Dallas Mavericks will be going into the NBA playoffs as the 4th seed in the Western Conference. They have racked up 52 wins this season behind Luka Doncic‘s 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Luka Doncic has led this team into the NBA playoff even through massive roster changes.
However, the Dallas Mavericks could be starting their postseason campaign without their All-NBA player. This could be all that the Jazz need to end the Mavericks season.
When will Luka Doncic return?
The Dallas Mavericks played the San Antonio Spurs in the last game of the season. However, the result of the game would not affect the standings. In situations like this, teams rest their best players to keep them injury-free and ready for the playoffs. Even non-playoff teams like the Lakers rested their stars.
However, Dallas played Luka Doncic and reminded everyone why it makes sense to res your star in insignificant games.
In the 3rd quarter against the Spurs with 2 minutes left the Dallas Mavericks were up by nearly 2o points. Luka jumped into 2 Spurs defenders looking for a pass but all he found himself with was an injury. The game was a blowout and there was no reason for Luka to be in the game at all. He left the game and did not return.
Initially, people believed the injury was not that serious and that we would see Luka suit up for the first game of the NBA playoffs against the Utah Jazz. However, after the MRI results were revealed it was confirmed that Luka Doncic has a left calf strain. The more scary part about all of this has been that the Dallas Mavericks are extremely secretive about the whole ordeal.
Luka Doncic’s calf strain is a calf strain, and experts say it gets way more “complex” after that https://t.co/Ex1lvBYyWk
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) April 12, 2022
They haven’t revealed the severity or timeline for the injury and return. However, there have been speculations of Luka missing the first couple of games against Utah. Those games will be played in Dallas and without Luka the Mavericks could squander the home-court advantage.
Could this unnecessary error from the Mavericks cost them huge in the NBA playoffs? Dallas Mavericks fans surely hope not.