Getty Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
This has been a weird season for the Dallas Mavericks. After making an impressive run to the Western Conference Finals last season, they failed to live up to expectations to start the year. And then, at the trade deadline, they made a huge deal for Kyrie Irving.
But despite the addition of Irving, Luka Doncic is still the unquestioned leader of the Mavericks. In their latest loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, however, Doncic left the game with a thigh injury, leading to much concern. However, the Mavericks got a great update from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN the following day.
“Luka Doncic’s MRI on his thigh is clean and he’s expected to return as soon as discomfort allows him, source tells ESPN,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
However, Wojnarowski’s positive update followed a couple of unfortunate statements from Doncic post-game.
“It’s been going on for one week, maybe more, I just can’t really push off of that leg,” Doncic said after the Pelicans game via Mavs Fan For Life’s Landon Thomas. “I’m just getting with no running, I can feel it, but mostly probably on the jump shots. So pushing off is very hard for me.”
In addition, Doncic noted that the injury slowly got worse throughout the game before he was forced to exit.
“I always try to play,” Doncic explained. “I think the first quarter wasn’t really that bad, but it got worse, especially in the third quarter. I just tried something to help it stick together, but it didn’t really help. Like I said, I was going more and more and then I could barely run. Normally I got hit in the thigh, but this one I didn’t get hit, so it’s kind of weird for me. I don’t really know what it is, I don’t know, it’s weird.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. Praises Kyrie Irving
Meanwhile, the Mavericks still have a solid roster that is capable of carrying the load while Doncic deals with his injury. Tim Hardaway Jr. recently showed love to Irving and had lots of good things to say about playing with the star point guard.
“It’s great. It’s great. He gives us confidence,” Hardaway Jr. said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “Not only myself, but all [the] other guys out there on the floor with him [get] confidence. Especially when we’re getting stops, to push the break, he’s running on the other side. But he gives us [the] opportunity to explore, like I said, at the beginning of the shot clock. And if we don’t have anything, then get into the offense and play with that same pace with we’ve been playing [with] since he got here.”
Kyrie Irving Confident in Mavericks Title Hopes
As for Irving, he is extremely confident in the Mavericks. He says that they’re still learning and growing together, but he believes they have a shot at winning a championship.
“It’s coming together fast,” Irving said of Dallas’ team chemistry via Bally Sports Southwest. “And to be honest with you, I think our championship aspirations are really close. But honestly, we’ve got to take it one day at a time.”