The Dallas Mavericks received a mixed bag of injury updates on Monday. Kyrie Irving has already been ruled out for Monday's game against the Orlando Magic with a right thumb sprain, however, Luka Doncic was not listed on the NBA injury report.
Irving suffered the thumb injury last Monday against the Boston Celtics and has not appeared in a game since. It is a bit concerning that Irving was ruled out early for this contest, as he had previously been listed as questionable and doubtful on other pregame injury reports.
Doncic, meanwhile, was listed as questionable ahead of Saturday's game before being made available prior to tip-off. Doncic was dealing with ankle soreness, but it was an encouraging sign to see him play in the second of a back-to-back.
Sunday's off-day was necessary for Doncic, though, as the Mavs star played in 90-plus minutes of action between Friday and Saturday's games.
“I'm tired. I can't wait to go to sleep honestly,” Doncic told reporters after Saturday's narrow 120-115 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Dallas will rely heavily on Doncic once again Monday with Irving out.
Mavericks, Luka Doncic preparing for Magic with Kyrie Irving out
Doncic's workload has been a subject of discussion over the past week. The Mavericks obviously want to keep him healthy, but they also need him on the floor on a consistent basis with Irving dealing with an injury.
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd addressed Doncic's heavy workload after Saturday's defeat.
“The game plan is always to try to keep him under 48… We did that tonight (Doncic played just over 46 minutes),” Kidd said. “With the depth that we have, he's out there trying to do it by himself. That's who he is. He loves to take on the world. Again tonight, he helped his team. Unfortunately, he didn't shoot the ball like he did last night but he still is a problem. He created a lot of open shots for his teammates.
“In that first half, we just didn't shoot the ball well. There in the last four minutes, we started to get our rhythm, we started to make shots. It becomes a two-possession game, and it could have easily been a one-possession game there if we make that corner 3. To play him 46 minutes, that's something we talk about during the game. At some point, that game was out of hand almost and those guys didn't stop playing. They kept fighting and found themselves in the ball game and so his minutes got extended.”
The Mavericks will battle a Magic team Monday that has struggled over the past few weeks. With that being said, Orlando most recently earned a 113-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns. The Magic will look to build off that momentum and upset the Mavs in Dallas on Monday night.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 PM EST at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
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