The Dallas Mavericks have listed Luka Doncic as questionable for the game against the San Antonio Spurs, but Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle is leaning to play the highly regarded rookie.

Luka Doncic, the third overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, has been dealing with a sore left back and was a doubt ahead of the Mavs' match-up with Texas rivals Spurs. However, Carlisle said he expects the 19-year-old to take the court.

The 59-year-old coach added that they are monitoring the Slovenian's condition ahead of the game.

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It remains to be seen if Luka Doncic will start in the game or come off the bench. Nonetheless, it's likely that he will see limited minutes in order to avoid further injury. Wesley Matthews, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell could see more playing time considering the situation.

Luka Doncic has been impressive for Dallas so far. He started in the Mavs' first six games of the season, averaging 18.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He has three 20-plus points games already this year, including a near double-double performance (21 points and nine boards) in their loss to the Atlanta Hawks last week.

He scored 22 points and tallied four assists and five boards last Friday against the Toronto Raptors.