Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic’s status for Sunday afternoon’s Game 4 is in question due to a sprained left ankle that caused him to miss the 130-122 loss to the LA Clippers in the fourth quarter on Friday.
Doncic fell after rolling his ankle while defending Kawhi Leonard on a drive to the court with 3:58 left in the quarter. He immediately grabbed his left ankle, and after helping to his feet, Doncic jumped on his right foot from the floor and tunnel up.
After getting the ankle back, Doncic came back at the start of the fourth quarter and was clearly hobbled before going out with 9:02 left. The Mavs announced minutes later that Doncic would not be returning.
“It’s not that bad,” said Doncic, who has missed a total of 11 games this season due to two fouls on his right ankle. “Honestly, I was lucky it’s my left ankle. It’s not my right. It’s a little scattered. We’ll know more tomorrow.”
Doncic, who limped the tunnel after the loss with an ice pack wrapped around his ankle, said he would receive an MRI on Saturday.
Game 4 is at 3.30pm ET Sunday. The Clippers, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, have a 2-1 series lead over the seventh-seeded Mavs.
“The game is early Sunday, which doesn’t help matters, but we’ll see,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “We have every advanced treatment modality you can have, as every team here does. We’ll see how this responds in the next 36 hours.”
Doncic averaged 35.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists, while the Mavs and Clippers split the first two games of the series. He had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 3, becoming the third-youngest player in NBA history to record a playoff triple-double, just behind Magic Johnson and LeBron James.
Carlisle said Doncic did not dispel the pollution by playing a few minutes to start the fourth quarter. After evaluating Doncic and re-carpeting his ankle, Dallas Director of Health and Performance informed Casey Smith Carlisle informed that Doncic wanted to return to the game, but it soon became clear that Doncic’s mobility had been significantly compromised.
Doncic sent to the Dallas bench that he needed to leave the game. He knocked on his chair in frustration before returning with Smith to the locker room.
“I just wanted to get in,” said Doncic, who was 4-of-14 from the floor in the loss. “We still had a chance to win and help my teammates. Of course I could still walk a little bit, but I couldn’t express my left leg, so it was better to go out and let someone else play.”
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