The Dallas Mavericks welcomed superstar Luka Doncic back with a rousing 102-98 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday.

After a four-game absence where Dallas went 2-2, the Slovenian second-year player still managed to put up his usual overall numbers of 24 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 33 minutes of action.

Still, it was evident that Doncic needed to get his rhythm back after an ankle injury, as he struggled shooting from the field. The 20-year-old star looked like he needed to get his legs back under him particularly in the second half, going just 9-for-23 from the field (27 percent) and 3-of-8 from past the arc (38 percent).

Speaking after the game, Doncic admitted that his conditioning was still not up to par, which led to his struggles from the field.

“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty tired going to the end of the game. It’s different. It’s difficult when you’re out four or five games. You’ve got to catch up. It’s going to get better,” he shared, via ESPN's Tim McMahon.

Despite Luka's inaccuracy from the field, coach Rick Carlisle and the Mavs are glad to have their best player back from injury. Fingers were crossed when Doncic sustained the injury on December 14 against the Miami Heat, and Dallas is lucky that he was able to recover quickly.

Doncic also received some great praise from opposing head coach Gregg Popovich, who described him as a “beast”.

With the win, Dallas improved to 20-10, good for 5th place in the Western Conference.