“We’re Unsure”: Dallas Mavericks Coach Raises Doubts on Luka Doncic Injury Ahead of Game 4

Game 3 between the Dallas Mavericks and the LA Clippers was a spectacle, with so much going on. We had a furious Luka Doncic going back-and-forth against Montrezl Harrell. Then the same guy made possible a triple-double and also got himself injured. 

Luka’s injury came in the third quarter. He tangled his left foot against a defensive player. Luka had to hobble his way out to the locker room. From Luka’s face, the injury looked bad, but his words told a different story as he later claimed, “It’s not that bad. Honestly, I had luck that it was my left ankle. It’s not my right.”

The Dallas Mavericks in trouble?

The Mavs have kept Luka’s status for game 4 to be a “game-time decision”. The head coach Rick Carlisle, recently observed in an interview, “We’re unsure of the exact severity of Luka’s ankle. One of the good things is, it’s the good ankle, not the one that he’s sprained a few times in the late couple of years. We’ll know more tomorrow [Saturday], but he did come back and try it obviously and wasn’t moving great.

“We’ll see where he is come tomorrow and Sunday morning. This game on Sunday is early, which does not make it any easier. We’ll see.”

Now, Trey Burke also has shown an ankle issue and remains probable for Game 4. This makes the life of the Dallas Mavericks very tough. For sure, Paul George is already struggling with his form and that is good news for the Mavs. But losing on the offense that Luka creates can also be dampening. 

Why was it a terrible move to put Luka Doncic back on court the other day?

The Slovenian injured himself in the late minutes of quarter 3. The Mavs were trailing because of a below-average second quarter, and we all saw the desperation in the side to make a comeback. They got Luka back on the court in a matter of few minutes to try his luck in quarter 4. It took him only a couple of minutes to accept that he must call it a day. 

The risk of putting Luka back in the play was too high. Chances were that he could have injured himself even worse if the weight would’ve landed wrongfully. They anyway had very slim chances of bouncing back in the game, and hence putting Luka’s injury on the line could have cost them more than just a game.

Fortunately, nothing of that sort happened and we can expect to see him back, probably playing fewer minutes or as his health allows. Game 4 of the NBA Playoffs 2020 is slated to start at 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC on Sunday, August 23.