Luka Doncic had one of his weakest games of the season against the Boston Celticcs tonight, ending a streak of explosive performances from the Dallas Mavericks’ guard that catapulted the Mavs on a 7-game win-streak.
The Boston Celtics found their shooting stroke against the Mavericks and blew them out in their own arena, a nice change of pace after conceding 150 points against the lower-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. Luka Doncic only had 23 points on 30.4% efficiency, an uncharacteristically tough night for the Slovenian this season.
Doncic was seen having coughing fits during the game as well as struggling with his ankle, which made the Mavs pull him out the second the game looked too far gone. Jason Kidd has provided a cryptic update on Doncic’s health after the night.
When asked about Luka Doncic's health, Jason Kidd: “He looked like himself out there. He just missed some shots. He had some good looks. They just didn’t go down. I don’t know about his health. I know he did leave at one point, but I don’t know what the cause of that was.” pic.twitter.com/ZUaspF4IoW
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) January 6, 2023
“You have to ask him, how he feels. I have no idea. He looked like himself out there. He just missed some shots. He had some good looks. They just didn’t go down, but I don’t know about his health. I know he did leave at one point, but I don’t know what the cause of that was.”
Even a slight injury to Luka could be a massive concern for the Dallas Mavericks, who haven’t been able to win games without him providing big performances. They faced some of the worst teams in the league over their 7-game win streak but Doncic had to average over 40 points in that stretch to help the Mavs close those wins out.
Luka Doncic’s MVP Case
Doncic’s MVP case definitely took a blow tonight, as he struggled to impress against Jayson Tatum. However, Tatum was struggling despite the Celtics’ success and was criticized heavily by fans for playing garbage time minutes to pad his stats. Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets also pulled off a win without needing a big performance for him, so Luka might be in the same place he was before.
Given the Mavs roster, it is incredible to see Doncic have them as the 4th seed in the West right now. Whether they can hold that position is yet to be seen but if Doncic is going to miss a week or two with all the injuries the Mavs already have, it can get ugly very soon. The team record tanking could also tank his case for MVP.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
