Sunday’s marquee nationally televised NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets is a great matchup on paper. The headliners are the two MVP candidates from Eastern Europe, frontrunner Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic.
With the Nuggets battling for the number one seed in the Western Conference, and the Mavericks battling for play-in position, this is also a possible first-round playoff preview. The two stars have been red hot lately as Doncic just ended a seven-game streak of 30+ point triple-doubles, and Jokic has been averaging a 25+ point triple-double since the all-star break.
But unfortunately, we may not get to see this epic dual between the two buddies, because Doncic has been dealing with an injury. Luka tweaked his ankle while playing the Warriors on Wednesday night. He left the game and did not return.
He didn’t travel with the team to Oklahoma City and missed their game with the Thunder, but the MRI came back negative and it appears he avoided a major injury. Doncic was back at practice on Saturday but hamstring injuries are obviously delicate issues.
Mavericks injury report
The big story in this one is that Luka Doncic comes into the game with a ‘Questionable’ tag. It sounds like he’ll be a true game-time decision as he recovers from the hamstring tweak. With Dallas sitting in the eighth seed, every game is huge. They’re desperately fighting to avoid the play-in tournament and that task gets exponentially harder without their do-it-all superstar.
But still, the long-term health of Doncic trumps any short-term interests. They won’t want to put him back out there until he is 100%. If they don’t have a healthy Luka for the postseason, it won’t matter where the Mavericks end up in the standings.
Dante Exum (foot) is also ‘Questionable’ for Sunday’s game, while Josh Green (ankle) and Brandon Williams (wrist) are ‘Out for the Mavs.
Nuggets injury report
The Nuggets injury report is a familiar sight to Nuggets fans. Vlatko Cancar remains ‘Out’ with a knee injury and otherwise, it’s a clean health report across the board.
Betting odds
The Nuggets are currently listed as 3.5-point favorites, although I would expect that to change if Doncic is ruled out. The total stands at 225.5 points.