Luka Dončić was officially ruled out of Saturday night’s Game 1 vs. the Jazz, per The Dallas Morning News.
The Mavericks star has been dealing with a left calf strain since Sunday, April 10 during Dallas’s last regular season game vs. the Spurs. These types of injuries typically take seven to 10 days for recovery.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd announced Dončić’s status on Saturday morning, adding that the team is treating the guard day-to-day in terms of his return.
“He’s day-to-day, so we’ll go from there,” Kidd said.
Kidd also added that Dončić has remained in “good spirits” throughout the week despite his untimely injury. The team wants to get Dončić to a point where he can play in this series.
Games 1 and 2 are being played in Dallas, so Dončić will miss at least one of his team’s home games in the first round series. Game 2 is set to be played on Monday, and Dončić’s status for that game is still unknown. Kidd will most likely announce Dončić’s status on Monday morning as he did for Game 1.
“With Luka playing or not playing, we are excited to be home but we understand what’s at stake to protect home,” Kidd said.
The Mavericks will be without their three-time All-Star player, who averaged 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game in 65 games played this season. Dončić leads the team in all three categories.
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