Luka Doncic’s availability for Game 1 of the Dallas Mavericks’ first-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz is still
uncertain. But the Mavs are holding out hope that the three-time All-Star will be healthy and ready to play when they open their best-of-seven series against the Jazz on Saturday at noon at American Airlines Center.
At various times this season when Doncic missed 17 games on seven separate occasions, the rallying cry from his teammates was that they eventually learned how to play without the team’s superstar point guard. However, that is not the preferred route they care to take when they do battle against the aggressive-minded Jazz.
Overall this season, the Mavs are 8-9 when Doncic was sidelined, including owning a 4-3 record at home and a 4-6 record on the road.
Ideally, the Mavs would rather have Doncic in the starting lineup and on the floor for the upcoming playoff series against the Jazz. That obviously gives them the best chance of at least advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since they captured the 2011 NBA title.
“For some reason, I feel like he will be ready to go,” guard Jalen Brunson said following Sunday’s 130-120 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. “Knowing the competitor he is, I’m sure he will be ready.
“It’s unfortunate (Doncic got injured), but with a competitor like that you can’t keep him down for long.”
Doncic was injured late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game. Coach Jason Kidd said Doncic was playing his normal minutes, and that he was going to take him out of the game – probably for good – at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Unfortunately, with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Doncic came up limping on a mundane play. After the game, Kidd said: “As a group we have to go through games that we feel like we should win and we have to go out there and execute, and I thought the guys did a good job there in the third quarter to extend that lead.
“But that being said, injuries are part of the game, absence are a part of the game, so we’ll see how he feels. The nice thing is we have won home court (advantage), so we don’t have to travel.”
Here’s the rundown of games Doncic missed this season and why he sat out those games.
*Three games missed from Nov. 17-21, 2021 with left knee and ankle sprains
Nov. 17, lost at Phoenix, 105-98
Nov. 19, lost at Phoenix, 112-104
Nov. 21, lost at LA Clippers, 97-91
*One game missed on Dec. 4, 2021 with left ankle soreness
Dec. 4, lost vs. Memphis, 97-90
*Five games missed from Dec. 12-21, 2021 with left ankle soreness
Dec. 12, won at Oklahoma City, 103-84
Dec. 13, won vs. Charlotte, 120-96
Dec. 15, lost vs. LA Lakers, 107-104 (OT)
Dec. 19, lost at Minnesota, 111-105
Dec. 21, won vs. Minnesota, 114-102
*Five games missed from Dec. 23-31, 2021 while in the health and safety protocols
Dec. 23, lost vs. Milwaukee, 102-95
Dec. 25, lost at Utah, 120-116
Dec. 27, won at Portland, 132-117
Dec. 29, lost at Sacramento, 95-94
Dec. 31, won at Sacramento, 112-96
*One game missed on Jan. 7, 2022 with right ankle sprain
Jan. 7, won at Houston, 130-106
*One game missed on March 5, 2022 with left toe sprain
March 5, won vs. Sacramento, 114-113
*One game missed on March 23, 2022 with right ankle soreness
March 23, won vs. Houston, 110-91
PINSON WAS A BRIGHT SPOT: Forward Theo Pinson has missed most of this season while dealing with a fractured right fifth finger, but was able to pour in a season-high 16 points in just 13 minutes against the Spurs.
Pinson was 5-of-5 from the field, including 4-of-4 from three-point range, and was gracious coach Jason Kidd gave him some valuable playing time.
“I was just letting the game come to me,” Pinson said. “I was not really forcing anything. My teammates gave me the ball in good positions and I just tried to make plays. I thank coach Kidd for giving me the opportunity.”
Since Pinson is a two-way player, he is ineligible to play in the playoffs. However, under NBA rules, he will be allowed on the bench during home and road games.
That’s good news for the Mavs, because Pinson is the team’s most vocal leader and energizer on the bench. And he can’t wait to unleash his vocal cords during the upcoming playoff series against Utah.
“Oh yeah, trash talking with definitely be there,” Pinson said. “I don’t have to worry about going in, so I’ll be all right.
“I’m going to be even more locked into the game plan just trying to help my teammates out as much as I can on the floor, and helping them be in the right positions and tendencies and stuff like that. I’m definitely going to try to just do everything I can to help us win the series.”
BRIEFLY: Mavs point guard Luka Doncic was named Monday as the Western Conference Player of the Week. It’s the third time this year Doncic has won this prestigious award. Devin Booker (Phoenix) and Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota) are the only other players named Western Conference Player of the Week three times this year. In addition, Doncic and Booker are the only players to win the Western Conference Player of the Week awards at least three times in
each of the past two seasons. During the Mavs’ 3-0 record last week, Doncic averaged 30.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 10 apg while shooting 46.7 percent from the field in only 30.8 minutes. For the season, Doncic finished third in the NBA in scoring (28.4), fifth in assists (8.7) and 19th in rebounds (9.1). . .The Mavs’ 52-30 regular season record ties the 2003-’04 squad for the eighth-best won-loss record in franchise history. That also is the fifth-best record in the NBA this season behind Phoenix (64-18), Memphis (56-26), Miami (53-29) and Golden State (53-29). The Mavs were 0-3 this season against Phoenix, 3-1 against Memphis, 1-1 against Miami and 3-1 against Golden State. . .As a nod to first-year general manager and president and basketball operations Nico Harrison, the Mavs are 20-7 – 74.1 percent – since acquiring Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans from the Washington Wizards on Feb. 10 in a trade for Kristaps Porzingis and a protected 2022 second-round draft pick. The carrot on top is that the Mavs have home court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2011 Western Conference Finals. . .The Mavs are 36-12 since Dec. 31. Of those wins, 14 are against teams that are in the playoffs and seven others are against teams that are in the play-in tournament. Among those 36 wins, three were against Golden State, two were against Memphis, two were against Utah, and one each occurred against Miami, Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago and Denver. Since Dec. 31, the Mavs also have one win against seven of the 10 play-in teams – Minnesota, the Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans, San Antonio, Brooklyn, Cleveland and Atlanta.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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