Luka Doncic's injury casts doubt on his presence in the 'play offs'

Last game of the regular season.

The Dallas Mavericks, already classified with home field advantage for the

, receive the San Antonio Spurs with a guaranteed ticket to

and with nothing at stake.

In the final stretch of the third quarter, when the Mavs already have victory on track, a whiplash shakes Luka Doncic's left leg after a foray into the paint.

The Slovenian puts his hands to the injured area and strongly grabs his left calf.

As if the power had gone out, silence invades the American Airlines Center in Dallas at times.

That's when uncertainty gives way to worry.

Accompanied by two members of the team, Doncic leaves the floor and heads for the locker room with a visible limp.

His gesture is crystal clear: something is happening, and it's not a good thing.

Hours after the game, the Mavericks star undergoes an MRI that confirms a strain in the calf of his left leg.

Five days before the start of the first round of the

, in which Dallas faces the Utah Jazz, Doncic's presence in the tie is a mystery.

The language licenses amplify, even more if possible, the doubts about the return of Slovenian.

In English, Doncic's diagnosis, “

”, refers to an injury to any part of the left calf, be it the gastrocnemius, soleus, or even the Achilles tendon.

This linguistic ambiguity, coupled with the lack of accuracy in the medical report issued by the franchise, expands the range of options to the point that it is impossible to predict the return of the Slovenian to the tracks.

In the NBA, the average time of absence after suffering this injury (

) this season has been 16 days.

With that diagnosis, Doncic could return in a hypothetical Game 6 of the first round against the Utah Jazz.

However, in Dallas they hope that the injury is not serious and they are optimistic with the evolution of the Slovenian.

The Mavs already had one of their players injured this season with a diagnosis similar to Doncic's: Frank Ntilikina missed 12 days earlier this season after suffering a similar calf injury.

However, this injury also evokes the worst omens if you look at other examples.

In the 2019

, Kevin Durant missed nine games en route to the Golden State Warriors' fifth straight Finals after suffering a right calf injury.

The forward returned in the fifth game of the Finals to try to force the sixth game for the ring against the Toronto Raptors.

After 12 minutes on the court, Durant broke the Achilles tendon in his right leg, the same one that had kept him sidelined due to his calf injury, and he did not play again until a year and a half later, already in the Brooklyn Nets.

Doncic, franchise player

Between minor injuries, layoffs and a positive for covid, Doncic has missed 17 games this season.

Without the Slovenian, the Mavericks have won eight games and lost nine, one of them against Utah (116-120), their rival in the first round of the playoffs.

It seems clear that the Mavericks' hopes without Doncic are greatly diminished.

The Slovenian has not only led the franchise in points (28.4), rebounds (9.1) and assists (8.7) this season, but he also has the best scoring average in

history : 33, 5 points per game in 13 games, all against the Los Angeles Clippers.

After this Sunday's match against the San Antonio Spurs, Jason Kidd, coach of the Mavs, justified Doncic's presence on the floor despite the fact that the match was on track: "Bearing in mind that for the next match, already against Utah, There was one week left, I wanted everyone to have minutes today.

My plan was to make rotations to give rest from the third quarter”.

It was in that period when Doncic was injured.

Now, with the presence of his star in the air, Kidd has only a few days to devise a plan for the matchup against Utah.

"They are a very well-coached franchise [by Quin Snyder], with

players [Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert] and a lot of experience in the

," he said at a press conference.

And he added: "Injuries are part of the game and it will be a tough test for us."

The Mavericks and Jazz have played four games this season in the regular phase: two wins each.

Kidd knows this, and even without Doncic, he is confident in his team's chances: "It will be a very fun series, I'm sure."

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