The LA Clippers just pulled off an upset, beating the higher-ranked Dallas Mavericks in last night’s game. A large part of the Clippers’ success had to do with the fact that Luka Doncic was out for most of the competition. Luka seemed to have injured his hand during the beginning of the first quarter when the Mavs star reached out for a steal against James Harden. While he did successfully complete the play, Luka looked visibly disturbed in the aftermath.
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But in true Luka fashion, the Mavs star would return to the game during the first half. But these wouldn’t be empty minutes for Luka, as he ended up scoring 22 points by half-time. After the game, Luka addressed questions relating to his hand. Updating the media on the situation, Luka said the following as per X (Formerly Twitter) posts by Grant Afseth and Law Murray.
” I don’t think it’s broken. The X-rays, initially, showed that it was broken. So, we’ll see further tomorrow in Dallas.”
Luka also offered to show the media personnel his thumb injury but did warn them, ” You don’t want to see it. “
From the looks of it, Luka seems sure that his hand is intact. As for an injury report, the team has yet to make any statement on Luka’s injury. Luka did hint at the fact that his thumb didn’t show signs of clear breakage, but it’s hard to go off any initial scans. With Dallas finally climbing the ranks of the West, Luka’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The Mavs need Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic is the present and the future of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs have always had a history of building their team around a single MVP-caliber player. Before Doncic there was Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki just like Luka was a European wonderkid who dominated in the NBA. Without Nowitzki, Dallas doesn’t win a championship back in 2011.
Similar is the fate of today’s Mavs, without Luka, the team doesn’t stand a chance of winning a title. Luka is currently second in the MVP race as of this moment. For this season, Luka is averaging an insane, 30.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 8.1 assists. With a record of 10-6, Dallas is currently sitting in the 3rd spot in the West. With Doncic possibly out for some time, it would be interesting to see how Kyrie handles the responsibility of leading the team both in scoring and in his mentality.
