The Dallas Mavericks were looking to capitalize on their NBA Finals appearance from a year ago. But a slow start to the season and now an injury to star guard Luka Doncic may prove to be detrimental to the team making any sort of run during the 2024-25 season.
Mavericks Will Be Without Doncic For At Least A Week
They were struggling even with Doncic in the lineup. The Mavericks went on a four-game losing streak recently that dropped their early-season record to 5-7, which was capped up by an ugly loss to the Utah Jazz late last week. They’d shown some signs of life since, winning each of their last three games, but the news that came out on Thursday morning certainly puts a damper on any building excitement.
Following their victory over the Pelicans on Tuesday, the Mavericks announced that an MRI on Doncic’s wrist revealed a sprain. There was no timetable given for exactly how much time he will miss, but it was stated that he would be re-evaluated in one week.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has sustained a wrist injury and is expected to miss time, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/QxZuKaDyAl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2024
What does the upcoming schedule look like for the Mavericks? They’ll only play one game in Dallas between now and the month of December, with 5 of their next 6 games set to be played on the road. They’ll play three games in four days against the Nuggets, Heat, and Hawks, and will follow up their home game against the Knicks with a back-to-back on the road against the Jazz and Trail Blazers.
Looking at the schedule for the rest of the calendar year, the Mavs will play 6 home games and 10 on the road between now and January 1st. They are currently 2-4 in games played away from home.
Who Will Pick Up The Scoring Slack?
It is unlikely that the wrist sprain keeps Doncic out that long, but Dallas will have an uphill climb trying to stay afloat until he does return. The Western Conference is already highly competitive through the first month of the season, and the Mavericks currently sit in the 11th spot and out of the playoff picture altogether.
Kyrie Irving will have to pick up some of the slack left by his injured co-star, but there is only so much more that the point guard can do while already averaging 24.3 points per game. Klay Thompson is the team’s third leading scorer, but is no longer the deadly offensive threat that he once was.
The Mavericks have boasted one of the league’s best defenses so far this year, and they’ll have to keep it up on that end to make up for the missing scoring on offense. As of November 21st, Dallas ranked 6th in the NBA in points allowed per game at 109.3.
