Mavericks guard Luka Doncic is hurting. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic's injury worse than expected?

Originally posted on Game 7 | By Anthony Amador | Last updated 4/14/22

The Dallas Mavericks saw their worst nightmare become a reality this past week when Luka Doncic got hurt in their regular-season finale.

During Sunday’s 130-120 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Doncic suffered a calf strain that immediately made many question his availability for the looming playoffs.

After some initial optimism from the team, reality has begun to set in ahead of Dallas’ first-round series against the Utah Jazz.

As noted by ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, things aren’t looking good for the Mavericks right now.

“There’s a lot of concern around how quickly Luka Doncic will be available in this playoff series against Utah,” he said. “If this were the regular season, you wouldn’t even talk about Luka Doncic playing games this weekend. But it’s the postseason and a Dallas team that is built so much around Luka. This calf strain is a little more than a mild strain. They’re going to keep working on him around the clock…

“The hope is he will play in the series, but there’s uncertainty on whether he will be on the floor when the series starts on Saturday.”

This season Doncic averaged 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game while shooting a career-best 35.3 percent from three-point range. The Mavericks will only go as far as he carries them in the playoffs.

This article first appeared on Game 7 and was syndicated with permission.

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