Luka Doncic says his new injury is 'fine' - but it's something to monitor

The Dallas Mavericks enter tomorrow's game against the Orlando Magic coming off their worst game of the season as they lost 108-102 to the Houston Rockets on Halloween night. Dallas trailed by as many as 23 points in this game and came all the way back to within three points, but they couldn't get it done in the clutch.

The Mavericks' putrid start hindered them in the loss as they trailed by 13 points at the end of the first quarter, and Luka Doncic's slow starts to games continued. Doncic couldn't get anything to go down early, and he clearly wasn't himself as he continuously tried to get himself going.

Doncic admitted after the game that the team's slow start falls on his shoulders, and he has to be better. He talked about how he missed the entire preseason as he was out with a calf contusion, and he is still trying to get his legs under him amid a rusty start to the season that extended into Dallas' game against Houston.

Doncic ended up finding his stride in the second half and led a heroic comeback, but ultimately Dallas came up short. His play in the fourth quarter was a positive heading into Sunday's game, but there does seem to be an injury that he has been dealing with since last Saturday's game against the Phoenix Suns.

Doncic has 'no worries' about elbow injury despite hard fall

In that game against Phoenix, Doncic began wearing an arm sleeve on his left arm after getting fouled early on. This injury didn't seem to impact him much, as he erupted for 40 points, but him wearing the protective arm sleeve continued on and off over the next few games.

Doncic didn't start the game against the Rockets wearing the arm sleeve, but a play in the second quarter caused him to go right back to wearing it. He took an extremely hard fall and landed directly on that left elbow. Doncic looked to be in serious pain after the fall and laid on the floor for a bit holding his elbow.

After the game, Doncic assured everyone that he was "fine" when asked about the left elbow injury, and there were "no worries" to go along with it. He said that it was just a "big bruise" and motioned with his hands that there may be some swelling there, and said that his fingers were "tingly" after the play.

There was some noticeable redness on Doncic's elbow during his postgame media availability, and it looked like it could have bled, but the Slovenian superstar toughed it out. Mavs fans know Doncic and bleeding due to injuries way too well as his knee was seemingly always bleeding during the second half of the season last year and the playoffs.

There doesn't seem to be any long-term concern from Doncic or the Mavs' end when it came to this left arm/elbow injury, but it's definitely something to monitor moving forward. If his elbow was indeed what he injured in that game against the Suns and then he aggravated it again against the Rockets, it'll be something to keep an eye on.

Even if it is just a contusion or bruise, these types of injuries can add up, especially for someone like Doncic who is always hitting the floor. His physicality when attacking the rim and backing down defenders are two of his strong suits due to his strength, and it'll be interesting to see how he manages this minor injury moving forward.

Mavs fans have no reason to have any serious concern about Doncic's elbow just yet, and him wearing an arm sleeve on that arm for the Magic game tomorrow could be telling of the pain that he is dealing with.