SAN FRANCISCO – As he was detailing the injury report before Saturday’s visit to Golden State, coach Jason Kidd said that the Mavericks might be getting more comfortable playing without Luka Dončić.
Not sure if that’s the good news or the bad news, because it’s not something they really want to get used to.
The Mavericks still haven’t won a game in which their superstar point guard hasn’t played this season, Taking an 0-6 mark into Saturday’s game (although they did beat Phoenix last week when Dončić played only the first three minutes before suffering an ankle injury.
They’ll get another chance to win without Luka on Monday at Utah. Kidd said on Saturday that Dončić will not join the team in Utah.
“He’s healing day to day, doing better,” Kidd said. “But he will not join us in Utah. We’ll see where he’s at after the Utah game.”
In other words, Luka has not been ruled out for the entirety of this five-game trip as he deals with a .
The same cannot be said for shooter Davis Bertans, who suffered a left calf strain against New Orleans on Thursday.
“(He) probably will be out through the All-Star break,” Kidd said. “And so when we come back we’ll see where he’s at.”
That means Bertans will miss at least seven games.
There was some good news on the injury front. Christian Wood went through a full scrimmage and practice on Friday and could be close to returning from his left thumb fracture.
If Wood is able to get another practice session in, he likely will return at some point on this trip.
Maxi Kleber (hamstring surgery) remains out, but has upped his rehab.
“He had a good day (Friday), so we’ll continue on that path,” Kidd said.
The Mavericks have tried not to change a lot of things in Luka’s absence. Some things can’t be replicated without him, but for the most part, with Spencer Dinwiddie controlling the ball instead of Luka, the Mavericks try to run the same schemes.
“It’s similar to Luka being double-teamed . . . with Spencer doing it,” Kidd said. “Without LD, everyone has to play their roles. Sometimes you will feel you have to do more because Luka has set the table for everyone.
“But I think we’re getting comfortable playing without him. And that’s good because when he does come back, it just makes us stronger.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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