Luka Doncic to miss at least 1 game with ankle, knee injury

Luka Doncic will miss at least one game with an ankle and knee sprain, according to Dallas Mavericks PR. According to some reports, he could miss additional time.

Doncic suffered the injury in the final seconds of the Mavericks win against the Nuggets Monday night. It first appeared to be an ankle sprain, but an MRI revealed an additional knee sprain.

Sports injury analyst Jeff Stotts said the combination of a knee and ankle sprain isn’t uncommon and referenced a similar injury involving Dirk Nowitzki back in 2008, which forced him to sit out 10 days.

While Doncic is officially out for Wednesday night against Phoenix, there isn’t an update on when he will return, as the Mavericks appear to be treating the injury as a day-to-day situation. ESPN.com’s Tim MacMahon had a source tell him the Mavericks expect Doncic to miss some time but hopefully not an “extended stretch.”

The Dallas Morning News’ Callie Caplan reported that Doncic is traveling with the Mavericks to Phoenix, so there is a chance he could play during the upcoming four-game road trip. The Mavericks play the Suns back-to-back, before then traveling to Los Angeles to play the Clippers in back-to-back games.

Doncic missing any time right now is incredibly unfortunate, as the Mavericks are embarking on the toughest part of their schedule to date. The next six games will all be against teams currently in the top 11 in net rating. This was a perfect chance to find more out about the Mavericks, a puzzling team that has a negative point differential but a shining 9-4 record. These six games, if the Mavericks were closer to full strength, could have been a good measuring stick to see if those poor team metrics were true or if the team had turned a corner in the last handful of games. Not only will the Mavericks be without Doncic Wednesday, but also Maxi Kleber, who doesn’t have a set date on a return from a back injury that has had him on the shelf since Oct. 31.