Luka Doncic played through an injury on Thursday night as the Dallas Mavericks fell to the Phoenix Suns in a thrilling encounter, 109-101. After the game, Doncic himself provided an update on his most recent neck injury and unfortunately, it appears could prove worrisome for Mavs fans.
Doncic admitted that his neck is bothering him and that it will need a lot of attention in the coming days (h/t Tim MacMahon of ESPN):
Doncic, who has dealt with a myriad of injuries this season, also said that he is unable to move his neck one way or another and that it appears to be worse than the neck strain he sustained in the playoffs last season. The good news here is that as Luka said himself, he should be good to go when the Mavs return to action on Sunday against a surging Memphis Grizzlies side.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd also shared some insight on Doncic's current knock. The Mavs head coach seemed to imply that his superstar point guard is going to be okay:
“If he's hurt, he's still going to compete,” Kidd said, via Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. “That's just who he is. He's a gladiator. He's going to fight.”
Doncic finished Thursday's loss with a game-high 28 points (tied with the Suns' Devin Booker), eight rebounds, eight assists, and two triples. He did turn the ball over eight times, though, and there's no denying that this was one of the reasons behind Dallas' disappointing loss.