The Dallas Mavericks have been dealt an early season setback regarding star player Luka Doncic.
The team will be without their five-time All-Star for at least one week due to a right wrist strain, sources confirmed to ESPN and Shams Charania.
Doncic suffered the injury in the team’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday. The team said he would be reevaluated in a week, which could see him miss the Mavericks upcoming games against the Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.
While the Mavericks are only off to an 8-7 start, Doncic has been sensational as usual. Doncic is averaging 28.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists. Even though his shooting percentage (43.5 percent) is down from 48.7 percent a season ago and his three-point shooting percentage of 32.4 percent is worse than the 38.2 percent he shot in the 2023-24 season, Doncic is still playing at an extremely high level.
Doncic previously missed Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a right knee bruise in addition to battling his current issue on Tuesday night.
With their star player out of action for the time being, Dallas will look elsewhere for its production. While Doncic leads the team in points per game (28.1), assists (7.6) and steals (1.6), Kyrie Irving (24.3 PPG) and Klay Thompson (14 PPG) are more than capable of taking over a game.
P.J. Washington leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game, giving the Mavericks a force underneath the basket. In Doncic’s absence against the Thunder, Washington recorded 27 points and 17 rebounds.
The Mavericks have plenty of talent on their roster, but losing Doncic for at least a week will challenge this team as it looks to improve on a middling 8-7 start to the season without their best player on the court.