Mavericks injury report lengthens at worst time as young scorer goes down

The Dallas Mavericks are rolling ahead of their matchup against the Toronto Raptors tonight, as they have won 10 of their last 11 games. Dallas' role players off the bench are playing great, and Jason Kidd no longer has to worry about who is going to step up off the bench to provide them with a spark.

Spencer Dinwiddie, Quentin Grimes, Daniel Gafford, and Naji Marshall (when he's healthy) have all been consistent lately, and the Mavs' bench has gone from one of the team's biggest weaknesses to an inevitable downpour of scoring and defense whenever they need it.

While Dante Exum (wrist surgery) and Marshall (illness) were the only two players to miss Dallas' game against the Washington Wizards on Thursday night, one of Dallas' youngsters went down in the fourth quarter of that game and he was added to the injury report for Saturday night's game against the Raptors.

Hardy's right ankle sprain stretches Mavs' guard depth thin

Jaden Hardy is listed as doubtful on the injury report with a right ankle sprain that occurred on Hardy's drive to the rim with about 5:20 remaining in the fourth quarter against Washington. While Hardy has been in and out of the rotation recently, the timing of this injury was awful. Marshall is already missing the game against the Raptors with an illness, and their guard depth off the bench is being stretched thin.

Dinwiddie and Grimes will have to continue to step up, which they are more than capable of, and while tonight's game against the Raptors matters, Dallas has a bigger game on Tuesday night that they'll need Hardy for.

The Mavericks play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Knockout Round of the NBA Cup on Tuesday at the Paycom Center, and Hardy potentially not being good to go in that game would not be ideal. It's not guaranteed that he would play anyway, but with Marshall potentially missing this game as well, having Hardy for this game would be big.

Kidd has shown in the past that he is never afraid to mix things up if the offense isn't playing the way he needs him to early on in games, and Hardy is someone he typically relies on to bring some energy and shooting off the bench. The Mavs have a different energy about them when Hardy checks into the game and knocks down a couple of shots right away, and this was evident against the Wizards.

Even though the game was way out of reach for the six minutes that Hardy played against Washington, he was playing with great energy and pace as he scored 13 points while shooting 5-6 from the field and 2-3 from downtown.

He hit one three off the dribble and one off the catch from nearly the same spot at the top of the key, and his confidence was unwavering. Hardy is never afraid to let it fly, and him being able to play in Tuesday night's game would be big to give Kidd more of a full lineup to throw the Thunder's way.