The grueling season appears to be taking its toll on Dallas Mavericks sophomore sensation Luka Doncic. The 20-year-old made his return to the court on Wednesday following a one-game absence due to an ankle injury, and as it turns out, the reigning Rookie of the Year sustained another minor injury in the Mavs' 109-103 victory against the San Antonio Spurs.
Doncic exited Wednesday's game in the first quarter, but was able to return shortly after with a splint on his injured left thumb. Following the win, the 6-foot-7 Mavs guard admitted that he was bothered by his thumb throughout the evening:
“It hurts,” Doncic said, via Yahoo Finance. “I got hit twice. I got slapped on the hand. [The officials] thought it was ball.”
When asked if he felt that this was going to be a lingering problem, the Slovenian Mavs star could not give a straight answer:
Article Continues Below“I don't know yet,” he said. “We're going to check it, but I don't think it's going to be serious.
“I came back in the game because I could. I don't usually use my left hand, so I'm glad it's not on the right.”
As he said above, the good news here is that the injury is not his shooting hand, so barring any unwanted surprises, Doncic should be able to play through this injury moving forward.
Dallas is currently in the thick of an all-out playoff positioning battle in the West. Right now, only four and a half games separate the second-seeded Denver Nuggets from the Mavs, who are currently sitting in the seventh spot. Losing Doncic in this cubical juncture would certainly be a huge blow for Dallas, but it looks like he's going to power through it.
Luka Doncic is averaging 28.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.7 assists this season.