Luka Doncic missed the first two games of the Dallas Mavericks’ first-round series against the Utah Jazz with a calf sprain, but according to Shams Charania, he’s optimistic he can return for Game 3 or 4 in Salt Lake City. Doncic’s calf tension would improve and training over the next few days could determine when he can return to the floor.
Doncic first suffered the injury in the regular season finale against the San Antonio Spurs. The Mavericks star was originally supposed to miss that game due to an automatic suspension triggered by his number of technical fouls, but when that technical foul was overruled by the league, he ended up playing. It cost him the first two games of this series due to that calf strain.
Luckily for Doncic, the Mavericks have been able to hold the fort without him so far in the series. They battled bravely in Game 1 before falling just short, but managed to even the series at 1-1 by beating the Jazz on Monday. Jalen Brunson led the way with a career-best 41 points. The Mavericks made 22 3-pointers in the winning effort, and now the pressure is squarely on Utah to respond.
The Jazz had a golden opportunity to take control of this series on the road with Doncic out. They failed to do so for many of the same reasons they failed to eliminate the Los Angeles Clippers without Kawhi Leonard a year ago. Their perimeter defense failed to contain dribble penetration, and against five-man lineouts, which forced Rudy Gobert to give up easy driving lanes or sacrifice open 3-pointers.
Things aren’t going to get any easier defensively for Utah with the return of Doncic. They may have home-court advantage in the series after splitting the first two games in Dallas, but if the Jazz have struggled to contain the injured Mavericks, they’re going to have to step up if they plan to hold a MVP candidate. like Doncic.
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