DALLAS – Luka Doncic will not play in Sunday’s game at Oklahoma City due to a right thigh contusion.
The Dallas Mavericks’ sensational rookie guard from Slovenia banged knees with Miami’s Derrick Jones Jr. early in the first quarter of this past Thursday’s game against the Heat. After coming out of that game that was attended by approximately 2,000 people from Slovenia, Doncic wound up playing 31 minutes and finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six turnovers.
Doncic was limited in Saturday’s practice at the Lympo practice facilities and the Mavs will be very cautious with him and his health going forward.
“We’re going to be very prudent with this and make sure that he’s 100 percent before he’s even thinking about getting back out there,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He banged knees early in that game (against the Heat).
“I saw the film and it was a direct hit and it was really, really difficult. It was really painful at first, and then the adrenaline and 2,000 Slovenia people and everything else, and he was able to finish the game, but he was not moving great. We’ll get it right.”
Doncic leads the Mavs in scoring (21.1), rebounding (7.6), assists (5.9) and steals (1.1) in 32.2 minutes per game. So, his absence against the Thunder will be sorely missed.
“Luka has taken a lot of responsibilities, so somebody has to step up and we have to play as a team to compensate for that,” center Maxi Kleber said. “He’s our key player, so it’s tough for us.
“But we still have a good team. We’ve got to make sure that everybody knows what he has to do and compete hard.”
Tipoff between the Mavs (29-46) and Thunder (44-32) is at 2:30 p.m.
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