“Yeah it was a bad night all the way around. Our defense, our energy and then the turnovers hurt us” When the Dallas Mavericks went up against the New Orleans Pelicans back in November of last year, head coach Jason Kidd himself admitted it to be close to a disaster. For a team comprising Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, etc to lose by a 21-point margin is never easy. Now, with the Dallas Mavericks holding a 7-7 win record, a win is needed during the upcoming Emirates Cup game, more than ever. Unfortunately, the squad may have to host the Pelicans without their key player.

According to the Dallas Mavericks Injury Report highlighted by ESPN, Luka Doncic has been placed on a ‘Day-To-Day’ status for the upcoming Pelicans matchup. This means that we won’t know his final availability status until a few hours before the commencement of the matchup. Dante Exum’s continuing ‘OUT’ status confirms the upcoming game won’t be the one in which the 29-year-old makes his season debut.

Luka Doncic had earlier sustained a calf injury during training camp. Complications from the same caused him to miss out on the entirety of the preseason. However, the player was available from the season opener onwards. Recently, Doncic revealed he hadn’t been at 100% during the recent games. Before the Oklahoma City Thunder clash, they reported that he would miss the game because of a right knee contusion. With no update on his recovery other than his status on the Injury Report, it is still hard to confirm whether the player will be there to take on the Pelicans or not.

Similarly to Luka Doncic, Dante Exum had sustained an injury during training camp. The difference was that the 29-year-old suffered from a wrist ailment, and still hasn’t recovered.

Despite not having Luka Doncic by their side, the Dallas Mavericks may go into the matchup with an advantage. After all, their situation isn’t as precarious as the Pelicans’. According to their Injury Report, the franchise has not one, but SIX players listed as ‘OUT’ for the upcoming game! Earlier, the Pelicans had ruled out Zion Williamson indefinitely in light of his left hamstring strain. He sidelined himself after playing only 6 games this season. Jose Alvarado joined the Injury Report a week ago after he confirmed an ailment he sustained when competing against the Nets was a left hamstring strain. Doctors will reevaluate Alvarado in three weeks.

Along with the star duo, the trio of Herbert Jones, CJ McCollum, and Dejounte Murray continue to recover from the ailments that have kept them off the court for some time now. While Jordan Hawkins’ back condition is better, it is still not good enough to put him in the main lineup.

With these injury updates, both teams will need to make adjustments to their starting lineups for the matchup.

What will the starting lineup and depth chart for the Mavericks-Pelicans clash look like?

According to RotoWire, in Luka Doncic’s absence, Quentin Grimes may see an increase in on-court minutes. The backup shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks stepped up in the Slovenian’s absence during the OKC game. During the same, he dropped 10 points in 21 minutes to contribute to the win. In the 13 games of the ongoing regular season, he has averaged 5.1 points along with 2.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists.

The average points are lower than what he was scoring the previous season. However, the player may still know how to step up when needed. In light of this update, we can expect the starting lineup for the Mavericks to look something like this:

Given their dire situation, the New Orleans Pelicans will have made more changes than the Mavericks. Therefore, we can expect their starting lineup to look something like this:

The Dallas Mavericks or the New Orleans Pelicans? Who will you be rooting for during the upcoming matchup? Let us know in the comments down below.