MADRID, SPAIN – OCTOBER 10: #77 Luka Doncic and #11 Kyrie Irving of Dallas Mavericks during … [+]
The Dallas Mavericks failed to pick up their first win of the preseason on Tuesday, losing to Real Madrid. The loss marked the end of Dallas’ three-game world tour through the United Arab Emirates and Spain. While the loss is enough to cause some concern, the team faces bigger problems.
Luka Doncic spent less than five minutes against his former team on Tuesday before leaving and joining fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving on the bench. Irving missed two games with left groin soreness. Doncic’s limited playing time results from left calf strain, according to NBA insider Marc Stein reported.
“Doncic desperately wanted to play more, I was told,” Stein tweeted, “but Dallas set that limit to be ultra cautious.”
Doncic wasn’t happy about not being able to spend more time on the court against his former club. At one point during his postgame press conference, Doncic said he thought he could have played more and was “really pissed off” because he couldn’t.
Doncic’s injury occurred during practice on Monday. Meanwhile, Irving missed two consecutive games, Tuesday and Dallas’ last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Abu Dhabi. He played 14 minutes in the team’s opening game in the United Arab Emirates before leaving for good.
On Tuesday’s Bally Sports Southwest show, Stein suggested Dallas doesn’t have a timetable on how long injuries to Irving and Doncic could sideline its two star players.
“For Ky, it’s a sore groin in Abu Dhabi,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told the media after the game. “[We’re] play carefully. He’s doing everything in terms of treatment and working to come back, so hopefully he’ll be back soon.
“And then for Luka, he was injured in training yesterday. Just be careful to make sure we haven’t put him in a situation where he gets hurt again. So he played all five minutes and he looked good. He really wanted to continue playing, but it’s a long season. He did everything he could to go out and play, and he did a great job. He will continue to follow his treatment and we will see how he feels as the week goes on.
At the start of training camp, Kidd said the goal for him and the organization was to get Doncic as close to 100 percent healthy for the start of the regular season. So far, the team’s cautious approach seems to be working, at least with Doncic. He says he’s better.
“To tell the truth, I’m fine [apart] of what happened today,” Doncic said through a translator. ” I walked a lot. I think I’m improving, especially in my leg. It all happened in my left leg. But it’s just a little [of bad luck]. Nothing will happen to me. »
