SAN ANTONIO – The Dallas Mavericks will be without point guard Luka Doncic when they face the San Antonio Spurs
on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at AT&T Center.
They also will be without Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Markieff Morris.
Doncic has a left thigh strain, Irving is dealing with soreness in his right foot, Hardaway has a left calf contusion, and Morris has soreness in his left knee soreness.
“Those guys are day-to-day,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Hopefully they can practice tomorrow and go from there.”
Irving isn’t sure when he’ll be able to play again, but is concerned that the pain in his foot hasn’t gone away.
“This injury on my foot is a little bit more – it’s going to take a little bit more time than I thought,” Irving said. “I wish I was out there with the guys.
“It’s obviously still day-to-day, but I just got to take my time.”
Kidd pointed out the importance of having Irving healthy before he can even think about putting him in a game.
“I think health is important first, so we have to first be healthy to get on the floor,” Kidd said. “Once he feels that he can go– I think you talk about his talents. He’s one of the best in the world. He’s helped us in so many areas.”
Irving said the pain in his right foot is “right around my big toe. Kind of like around my plantar. I took a wrong step in (the March 8 game in) New Orleans and just felt like my knuckles cracked and I just want to take precautionary (steps).
“At this point in the season, I make my whole entire living with my feet. So, I’d rather take care of it now than be dealing with it when I’m 40 years old.”
The Mavs (34-35) are in a dogfight with several teams for playoff/play-in positioning, and have lost nine of their last 12 games. Obviously, the Mavs would rather lock down one of the Western Conference’s top six seeds and avoid the play-in tournament, and being healthy increases those chances.
“It’s frustrating for any of us that are on the sidelines, especially this time of the season,” Irving said. “This is where you want to be playing your best basketball, and with us being such a newly developed team at this point in the season, things have to happen a lot sooner.
“We’d love to be out there, including myself. We just have to get our health right first and then try to make a push towards the end of the season.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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