The Dallas Mavericks are almost out of the season. The team now has three players with season-ending injuries in a few days’ time span. Tonight, the Texas side stepped on the court to take on the Rockets without 8 players, including Kyrie Irving and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who both won’t step on the court for the rest of the season. Dante Exum, the starting backcourt, who already had a wrist situation, fell into trouble in the second quarter.

With 7 minutes left in the first half, Dante Exum exited the floor and headed straight to the locker room with discomfort. The team immediately announced that the 29-year-old won’t return for the rest of the game with a left-hand injury. There isn’t clarity on how the guard sustained the injury. However, during his final few seconds on the floor, Exum can be seen refraining from using his left hand. Moments later, Shams Charania updated that the starting guard had suffered a broken bone in his left hand.

Unfortunately, it’s been a tough season for Dante Exum, who’s already had his year cut short after just 17 games. He didn’t even get to hit the court until Luka Doncic was traded to the Lakers. Exum had been sidelined for the first part of the season, recovering from a wrist injury.

In tonight’s game, Exum played just 7 minutes and managed to score 2 points on a rough 1-3 shooting. The Mavericks, already short-handed, couldn’t catch a break and were crushed in a blowout loss, 96-133. With the Mavs now sitting at the 10th seed with a 33-35 record, they’re in real danger of losing their Play-In spot. The Suns, ranked 11th, are breathing down their necks, pushing hard to secure a postseason spot. Things are looking tense for Dallas as they fight to stay in the race.

With Dante Exum’s grueling injury, where do the Mavericks stand?

So, the Mavs have three players ruled out for the rest of the season. Kyrie Irving was the first one to leave the mix with a scary knee injury, tearing his ACL. He was followed by Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who had a season-ending wrist surgery. And now, Dante Exum. 

Anyway, one must wonder about the big man trio, Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford. Unfortunately, there isn’t any clarity on the timeline of their return. However, on the positive side, AD and Lively recently engaged in basketball activities as per ESPN.

So, with 14 games left in the season, the Mavs have to consistently win to keep their Play-in berth intact or else the Suns would creep in. Moreover, Coach Jason Kidd has found himself in a hopeless situation. Speaking about the team’s injury woes, he said, “Never been in a game where we could not take someone out to rest them because we had no one to put in. At the end of the bench, usually, you can put someone in.”

The Mavs are at a point where they don’t have enough resources on the bench for rotation. Does this mean that the Mavs’ season has come to an end? Let us know in the comments.