The Mavs and Clippers were back in action in a pivotal Game 3 on Friday night, with their first-round series knotted at 1-1, and each team looking to take the upper hand during a whirlwind opening week in the NBA playoffs in Orlando.
It was a tough battle through the first three quarters, with the Clippers mostly putting the clamps down on the Mavs, and Luka Doncic in particular, as he hasn’t been quite able to find his scoring rhythm in Game 3 or build on his phenomenal performances earlier in the series.
And there was a scary moment in the third quarter for Luka as he went down with an apparent leg injury after coming down awkward in the lane. Luka remained on the ground for several minutes, then headed straight for the locker room.
https://twitter.com/gifdsports/status/129700587350042624
It’s certainly a scary sight for the Mavs to see Luka unable to put any pressure at all on his leg as he hopped back to the locker room.
Luka Doncic. Not great. #MFFL pic.twitter.com/QBlCYzq8eq
— Joey Hayden (@_joeyhayden) August 22, 2020
He did, however, return and was available to check back into the game after making his way back to the bench. But Doncic was visibly wincing as his hobbled up and down the court and eventually left the game for good in the fourth quarter. Eventually, he checked himself out of the game, and soon after, the Mavericks made it official and ruled him out for the remainder of the contest.
Luka bumps into Lou Williams, subs himself out and walks into the locker room in pain pic.twitter.com/l7HCiMaNoz
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) August 22, 2020
Luka Dončić (left ankle sprain) will not return to tonight’s game.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) August 22, 2020
We’ll keep you updated on Doncic’s status for the remainder of the series as that information becomes available.