The Dallas Mavericks may be down superstar Luka Doncic for a couple of weeks has he suffered a moderate right ankle sprain. While driving to the basket, he stepped on Miami Heat guard Kendrick Nunn‘s foot, limping into the crowd before going down.
The Mavericks lost the game 122-118 to the Heat.
However, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said on Monday that the Slovenian small forward — the third overall draft pick out of Real Madrid in 2018 — is already recovering from his injury quickly.
“He is responding well to treatment,” Carlisle said before Dallas’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks, per ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “He is progressing well.”
The Rookie of the Year last season, Doncic has proved himself worthy of an MVP run. Averaging 29.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game, the 20-year-old has made quite the name for himself and leads the league with eight triple-doubles.
Backup point guards Jalen Brunson and J.J. Barea will have their work cut out for them as Doncic recovers and reserve guard Delon Wright could have an expanded role, however still recovering from a strained right adductor.
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Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said, “Luka Doncic will not travel to Milwaukee due to a right ankle sprain. He will stay in Dallas with Casey Smith and receive treatment. There will be no further updates until Wednesday night.” Smith is the Mavericks director of player health and performance.
The Mavs have won 11 of their last 13 games, but face a tough schedule with the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors over the next week.
Despite optimism that the injury is not too severe, the Mavs will need to find solutions to this problem as a demanding schedule looms over them.
Doncic also recently tried his hand at speaking Spanish during an NBA game in Mexico City:
