Mavericks’ Luka Doncic gets injury update ahead of Thunder Game

On By Littum

Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Dallas Mavericks travel to play the OKC Thunder for the first time since last season’s Western Conference Semifinals. Dallas beat the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night as the healthiest they have been since the start of the season.

PJ Washington returned after missing five games for 19 minutes against the Spurs off the bench. Against a Thunder team forced to play small due to injuries, he will be critical in this game. However, the Mavs will be without Luka Doncic, who is out with a right knee contusion. He has battled injuries all season and when he would be matched up against the overly aggressive Lu Dort, it makes sense to rest him. They are also without Dante Exum after he had wrist surgery in training camp.

READ MORE: Mavericks at Thunder: How to watch, TV, time, odds and preview

Oklahoma City has almost no big men available as Isaiah Hartenstein is out with a broken hand, Chet Holmgren is out with a hip fracture and Jaylin Williams is out with a hamstring strain. The injuries don’t stop there for the Thunder, as they will also be without key defenseman Alex Caruso, who is out with a hip strain. First-round pick Nikola Topic is out with a torn ACL that was discovered in the pre-draft process.

With all their big men out, the Thunder have started Jalen Williams at center, which has worked for them. They sit at 11-2 with the league’s best defense by a wide margin. They will have a tough task against the Mavericks, who have found success when they score in bunches.

Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford will need to be able to play in space. Otherwise, players like Maxi Kleber and PJ Washington will play center more often than usual. OKC’s defense has been tremendous so far this season, both protecting the three and protecting the paint, but we’ll see if they can do it against a big Dallas team.

READ MORE: 3 Takeaways From Mavericks’ Bounce-Back Win Over Wemby-Less Spurs

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