Dallas Mavericks frontman Luka Doncic has been hampered all season by a lingering ankle injury, which appears to have worsened in their loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

The Mavs star admitted as such after the 106-93 loss, claiming he shouldn't have continued to play after twisting his already ginger ankle.

Via Callie Caplan:

“I probably shouldn’t have played in the fourth,” said Doncic, who limped and grimaced after the twist but waved off a sub. “I wasn’t feeling very good, but I tried to be out there. We’ll see how it is tomorrow.”

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Luka Doncic re-aggravated his ankle injury at the 7:23 mark early in the third quarter, already piling on the numbers with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists at that point. He was limited to just four points the rest of the way.

The Mavs were outscored 41-30 from that point on, with the team being limited to just 14 points in the fourth quarter Doncic claimed he should've sat out.

It's hard to put the blame on Luka Doncic for trying to power through the pain. Dallas has been in a tailspin of late, losing four of their last five games and nine of their last 12 contests overall.

Having their superstar miss time could keep them spiraling downward. But if the ankle injury continues to linger like this, the Mavs would be wise to take caution on their young star.