After missing Thursday's matchup the Oklahoma City Thunder, Luka Doncic seems set to play in the Dallas Mavericks' showdown with the other team tied at the top of the Western Conference standings. The Slovenian superstar is “expected” to return to the floor against Nikola Jokic and Denver Nuggets on Sunday after initially being listed as questionable with left hamstring soreness, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
Jason Kidd later told reporters that Doncic is indeed available versus the defending champions.
Doncic sat out of his team's loss to the Thunder after tweaking his hamstring 24 hours earlier against the Golden State Warriors. After building an early lead with Doncic on the floor, the Mavericks held on to beat Golden State 109-99 despite their best player being forced to sit the last six minutes and 46 seconds of action due to a hamstring injury.
Doncic underwent an MRI on Thursday, the results of which came back “clean,” according to Dallas head coach Jason Kidd. The plan was for Doncic to be re-evaluated by team medical personnel leading up to Sunday's game before an official decision was made on his playing status, hence the 25-year-old's original designation as questionable.
The four-time First Team All-NBA honoree continued his stellar season coming out of the All-Star break, playing some of the best basketball of his career. Though his historic streak of 30-point triple-doubles ended when he missed the back half of the fourth quarter against Golden State, Luka Doncic is nevertheless averaging ridiculous numbers of 35 points, 9.5 rebounds, 11.2 assists and 1.4 steals on 63% true shooting over his last 11 games.
The Mavericks enters Sunday's action at 38-29, good for eighth-place in the Western Conference. They are a half game back of the Sacramento Kings and one game back of the sixth-place Phoenix Suns in the standings, as well as two-and-a-half games ahead of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. Denver, meanwhile, is 47-20, in a dead heat with the Thunder for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference.
Dallas and Denver tipoff at 12:30 p.m. (PT) on ABC.
Follow Us
Subscribe