Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic (ankle) misses game against Hawks

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic missed the Feb. 22 game against the Atlanta Hawks with a sore right ankle. Find out more here.

The Dallas Mavericks are fresh off a win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night. Luka Doncic started his post All-Star break stretch in style by dropping 33 points and narrowly missing out on a triple-double. The 20-year-old star looked ready to led the Mavs on a run down the stretch.

Dallas faced the second of a back-to-back set in Atlanta on Feb. 22. That left fans wondering who would play. The Mavericks ruled out Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, and Willie Cauley-Stein early on Saturday. The team is still managing KP’s knee injury by resting him in one-half of back-to-backs. WCS was out with a personal issue.

The worrying one was Doncic. He missed four games in mid-December with a right ankle sprain. Luka injured the same ankle on Jan. 30 and sat out seven straight before returning to face the Kings in the final game before the break. The fact that he is missing more time could be a bad sign.

Here is what Coach Carlisle had to say about the injury during his pregame media availability courtesy of Brad Townsend.

Owner Mark Cuban chimed in with this tidbit before Saturday’s game.

Missing one game is no big deal. The Mavericks could be managing his health in hopes of having 100 percent ready for the playoffs.

This also could be something more. Fans will have to wait to see his status for Monday’s game. If Luka is out again, the ankle injury cropped back up and could force him to miss extended time. Hopefully, he is in the lineup and ready to go.

The Smoking Cuban will provide Dallas Mavericks supporters with all the latest updates on Luka Doncic’s injury plus analysis on the team all season, so make checking back a priority.