NEW ORLEANS — The Mavericks’ frustrations in their 113-106 loss Wednesday night to the Pelicans spiraled from bad to worse late in the third quarter.
Luka Doncic left with 2:29 remaining in the period with what the team soon diagnosed as a left thigh strain. The injury appeared to hamper the 24-year-old superstar throughout his 28 minutes on the court — and at times over the last several games — and Doncic’s early exit Wednesday presented another cause for concern amid Dallas’ post-trade-deadline skid.
Doncic finished with just 15 points (4-of-14 shooting), eight rebounds and three assists before the Mavericks’ medical staff ruled him out — not enough production or efficiency to offset the team’s shooting woes and defensive lapses.
How concerned should Mavericks fans be?
Doncic’s status will remain unclear for likely another day, as the Mavericks don’t have to reveal official injury statuses for their next contest, Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies, until Friday afternoon.
But Dallas’ on-court performances since acquiring All-Star Kyrie Irving before the trade deadline continue to raise alarm.
The rigors of playing consecutive nights, particularly with late-night travel in between, showed throughout the Mavericks’ sixth loss in the nine games Doncic and Irving have shared the court.
Doncic shot 4 of 14 from the floor, including 1 of 5 from 3, continuing to show hesitation to drive to the basket and absorb contact since he said his thigh issue cropped up more than a week ago.
Irving tallied just four points in the first half as he deferred to other ball handlers to initiate offensive possessions a night after scoring 13 of the Mavericks’ last 16 points in a four-point win over the Jazz.
Without lead defenders Reggie Bullock (right quad contusion) and Maxi Kleber (right hamstring injury recovery), Dallas allowed New Orleans to shoot 48% from 3 and lead by as many as 19 points.
But the Mavericks had appeared better positioned to handle the quick turnaround before Doncic’s exit.
Doncic hadn’t played both halves of a back-to-back since Dec. 5-6 as the Mavericks elected to rest him during busy parts of the schedule.
But “with 15 games left,” coach Jason Kidd said Wednesday, “there’s no room for a break.”
The Mavericks didn’t translate the urgency to the court.
Doncic powered through a double-team in the paint to score at the rim to open a six-point lead (20-14) with 4:51 left in the first quarter, but officials whistled him for a technical foul for hollering after the basket.
That moved Doncic one technical foul shy of the NBA’s automatic one-game suspension for 16 in the regular season stung for a team so reliant on its superstar scoring tandem to counter their defensive issues.
The Mavericks’ response after the technical likely hurt even more.
The Pelicans scored the next six points after Doncic’s unsportsmanlike call and tied the game at 24 after the first quarter. They then scored 12 of the first 14 points in the second quarter to open the game’s first double-digit lead and control pace and pressure while out-scoring Dallas 35-19 in the frame.
The Mavericks answered with a lopsided quarter advantage in the fourth (41-30), but had no answer on the other end for Pelicans veteran point guard CJ McCollum.
After Irving’s layup pulled the Mavericks within three points (97-94) with 4:12 remaining, McCollum scored on four consecutive possessions and five of the Pelicans’ next six to stymie Dallas’ comeback hopes.
That doomed the Mavericks to their 10th loss this season to a team playing without its best player.
Make that defeat to the Pelicans down their best two for a second time this season.
Pelicans All-Star Brandon Ingram missed the second half Wednesday with a right ankle sprain, a concerning injury development hours after New Orleans announced superstar Zion Williamson will miss at least two more weeks because of his re-aggravated hamstring injury that forced him to miss three of four contests against the Mavericks this season.
He also sat out the first in October with a hip contusion.
Since his 2019 arrival in the NBA, Williamson has missed 12 of 15 games against Dallas. The last that he played (March 27, 2021), Doncic was absent with an illness.
Two of the NBA’s brightest young talents and Western Conference All-Star starters, Doncic and Williamson haven’t played head-to-head since Feb. 12, 2021.
Time to resume Injury Watch for both.
