Luka Doncic is the backbone of the Dallas Mavericks offense. The Slovenian superstar has willed his team to multiple improbable wins this season. However, Doncic has also been dealing with a quadriceps injury he suffered nearly a week ago. With a matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers looming, the question is: Is Luka Doncic playing tonight?

Is Luka Doncic Playing vs Cavs

The Mavs will need to figure out a way to win without Luka Doncic against the Cavs, as he's been ruled out for the game according to Marc Stein. The Cavs have been impressive all season long, making this a tough matchup for the team even with Doncic. Now, the difficulty meter has been cranked up to 10 for Dallas.

The injury listed for Luka Doncic tonight isn't exactly a new issue. The Mavs star has been listed with this injury since last week at the very least. In fact, he was able to play through this right quadricep strain a couple of times this week. Unfortunately, this week just wasn't possible for Luka, it seems.

The Mavs this season have been… fine, which is not good considering the expectations for them. After a run to the Conference Finals last season, everyone was waiting for this team to finally be a true contender in the West. However, they've encountered a myriad of problems, the biggest of which is their overreliance on Doncic.

So, is Luka Doncic playing vs. the Cavs? The answer is a firm no. Without Doncic playing tonight, the Mavs will need to turn to unlikely heroes to save the day. That means players like Christian Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr need to bring their A-Game against the white-hot Cavs team.