After an extremely hot start to the season, injuries have created enormous problems for the Dallas Mavericks. After kicking off the season with a 17-8 record, Luka Doncic suffered an ankle injury that kept him out for four games. After he returned, Kristaps Porzingis missed 10 games with a knee issue. He’s returned to the lineup, but unfortunately, the Mavericks just can’t seem to get their entire roster healthy at the same time.
Doncic suffered another sprained ankle at Thursday’s practice, and although Rick Carlisle confirmed Friday that was a slightly different injury than the one that sidelined him in December, he will still miss at least the next six games (which all come over the next nine days).
“It’s unlucky,” Carlisle said. “But it’s the NBA schedule. And this is just how it is. We got to find ways to make it into a positive somehow. It’s not easy because of the kind of player he is.”
Fortunately for fans, Carlisle at least expects Doncic to be OK in time for the All-Star Game, where he is scheduled to start.
“My personal feeling – not based on anything medical, not based on anything doctors or trainers are telling me – I believe he’s going to be OK by the time the All-Star Weekend rolls around. It’s just my feeling that he’ll be able to participate at some level on those events.”
The Mavericks are only 12-10 since Doncic’s initial injury. More distressingly, their net rating has dropped from a championship-caliber plus-8.9 to a more pedestrian plus-2.3 in that time. That decline has come on both sides of the ball, as Dallas lacks any semblance of rim-protection without Porzingis, and its offense is incredibly reliant on Doncic’s ability to handle the ball. Further complicating matters is the loss of Dwight Powell, who ruptured his Achilles tendon last week and will miss the rest of the season.
The Mavericks aren’t at risk of missing the playoffs. They currently hold an eight-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs, who are in ninth place at the moment, so reaching the postseason won’t be an issue. But they are currently tied with the Houston Rockets for the No. 5 seed, and both lead the Oklahoma City Thunder by only one game. Losing Doncic for an extended period of time risks knocking Dallas all the way down to No. 7. At the moment, that would lead to a first-round series against a Clippers team that has already beaten them twice this season.
Dallas could still upgrade its roster ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline, but after acquiring Porzingis last season, tradable assets are already running thin. For now, the Mavericks will likely have to just weather the storm with the players currently in place and hope for a speedy recovery from Doncic.
