Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic suffered a right ankle sprain against the Miami Heat on Saturday, putting his status on Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks in question.

However, while the team is yet to determine the extent of his injury, Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle admits he expects his best player to be sidelined.

Doncic played just a little over a minute against the Heat after twisting his right ankle early in the game. He was eventually ruled out of the contest after being initially listed as questionable to return.

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The Mavs fell into a deep ditch after Doncic went down, going behind by more than 20 points at a certain point in the second quarter. They managed to turn things around in the second half, thanks to the heroics of Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway, Jr. However, they eventually fell short in overtime as they clearly lacked the offensive edge to get them over the line.

Doncic's exit was a noticeable loss for the Mavs, as he is the main reason why they're playing so good in the cutthroat Western Conference right now. He's averaging 30.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 9.3 assists on 48/33/80 shooting splits. His influence on the court is important for Dallas, and his clutch gene has bailed them a couple of times this season already.

However, the Mavs are better off exercising caution on Luka. After all, they rather have him healthy than risk aggravating his injury.