Troubling illness sweeps through Mavericks locker room, sidelining key players

Over the last few weeks, the Dallas Mavericks have had awful injury luck.

P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, Maxi Kleber, and Luka Doncic have all missed significant time this season due to various injuries, and their bad luck when it comes to player availability continued into this week.

While Washington and Lively II's returns from injury have been huge for Dallas when it comes to getting back on track after that awful four-game losing streak that included a loss to the Utah Jazz, a new complication has hit the team.

Injuries and illness leave Mavericks in an uphill battle

Some sort of illness is being passed around the team, as both Lively II and Quentin Grimes are questionable to play tonight against the New York Knicks with an unknown illness. Klay Thompson is also listed as questionable against the Knicks with left foot plantar fascia, the same injury that caused him to miss Monday night's game against Atlanta, but he does not appear to be ill. This illness has been affecting the team for at least the past few days, as their win over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night was an uphill battle.

Kyrie Irving was listed as questionable heading into that game against Atlanta, and while he still played, you could tell that he was exhausted. He ended up dropping 32 points, but you could tell that he wasn't himself in the first half of that game.

Although he wasn't listed on the injury report before the game, Lively II exited the game against the Hawks with illness, and he didn't play in the second half. He is now in danger of missing tonight's game against the Knicks with this sickness.

Grimes missed this game against Atlanta with illness, and he could have even been in the early stages of being sick on Sunday night against the Miami Heat as he only played for eight minutes in the second half after playing 16 minutes in the first half.

Something must have been going around over the past few days within the locker room, and even though he is playing phenomenally, Naji Marshall admitted that he is battling a sickness right now.

"I’ll be good until we get on a plane then I’m sick again," Marshall said on X.

Despite this illness, Marshall has scored over 20 points in each of the last three games, and he has been excellent on both ends of the floor. His unorthodox-looking floater has spearheaded his offensive game, and his improved 3-point shooting is helping make him more of a threat from anywhere on the floor.

Marshall is quietly turning into a candidate for the Most Improved Player award due to his dominance on both ends, and he is finding a way to power through whatever illness the Mavericks are battling right now.

Even though Doncic will miss tonight's game against the Knicks due to a wrist sprain that he suffered against the New Orleans Pelicans, his return could be approaching as the Mavericks announced that he will be re-evaluated in one week, and a week from when they announced that is tomorrow.

The Mavs have found a way to respond to the adversity of Doncic being out by winning two of the last three games, and Dallas is now 3-1 without him this season. They will look to continue this hot streak alive against the Knicks, and they'll have to find a way to win once again despite several players battling illness.