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All told, the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic will have missed 12 days with the ankle injury he suffered against Miami. That amounts to four full games, plus all but the first 1:40 of the loss to the Heat. He will play on Thursday against the Spurs.
In his place, the Mavs did well enough to hold their own against a tough host of opponents, going 2-3 including the Miami game. They lost at home to Boston, a six-point game, and suffered difficult loss on Sunday, blowing a 23-point fourth-quarter lead in Toronto, last time they played.
But the Mavericks pulled off a pair of stunning road wins against the elite of the Eastern Conference, beating the Bucks in Milwaukee and the Sixers in Philadelphia. In all, the five teams the Mavs played in Doncic’s absence now have a combined record of 114-40.
“They did a great job without me,” Doncic told reporters. “It’s like I always say, we have some great players on the team that people don’t talk a lot about. You just saw how they play. We have some great players on the team. “
None better than Doncic, though, who is an MVP candidate with averages of 29.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.9 assists. He returns with the Mavericks at 19-10, fifth-best in the Western Conference. After playing San Antonio, the Mavs have a three-game road trip that includes a weekend back-to-back against the Warriors and Lakers.
After the road trip, the Mavericks will have a six-game homestand to start the month of January.
Porzingis, Brunson, Finney-Smith Stepping Up
The opportunity is there, then, to make a leap in the standings. But for the Mavericks to get back into the top tier of the West, some of the players who excelled while Doncic was out will have to continue to perform at a high level with their star anchor back on the floor.
First among those is big man Kristaps Porzingis, who was brought to Dallas a year ago to give the Mavericks an interior presence to couple with Doncic. But Porzingis has struggled since returning from ACL surgery he underwent in 2018.
Porzingis was averaging 16.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, shooting 40.1 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from the 3-point line. With Doncic out, he averaged 22.4 points, 13.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots. He shot only 41.9 percent from the field but 35.9 percent on 3s.
Doncic was hopeful that Porzingis’ improved play would continue.
“He’s getting more and more comfortable,” Doncic said. “I’m happy for him. We’re going to get better and better.”
But there are others who played better with Doncic out. Guard Jalen Brunson averaged 14.6 points on 45.9 percent shooting (38.1 percent on 3s), with 9.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds in five games without Doncic, after averaging 7.5 points and 2.6 assists before Doncic’s injury.
Three-and-D wing Dorian Finney-Smith, too, continued his steady improvement, averaging 10.2 points and 6.0 rebounds, making 50.0 percent of his 3-pointers during Doncic’s absence. He averaged 8.5 points and 33.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line before Doncic’s injury.
Doncic has carried Dallas through much of this season. But in his absence, others saw their performance bounce upward. For the Mavs to become a true threat in the West, they’ll need to continue to play at that level.
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Can Kristaps Porzingis, other Mavs Keep Up With Luka Doncic Back?