The Dallas Mavericks got one superstar back from injury on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets, as Kyrie Irving returned after a five-game absence, but they’re still waiting on Luka Doncic’s return. He suffered a fairly severe calf strain on Christmas Day against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Mavs announced he would be out for a month before he’d even be re-evaluated. While we’re still over a week away from that one-month mark, some further clarity has been provided to Doncic’s recovery timeline.
TNT’s Jared Greenberg reported during Tuesday’s game between the Mavericks and Denver Nuggets that Doncic is still “weeks away from returning,” but also said that the Mavericks are confident that he will return before the All-Star break.
Doncic missed his 18th game of the season on Tuesday night, making him ineligible for any postseason awards, but Dallas still believes they have a championship-caliber roster with Doncic leading the way. He led them to the NBA Finals last season, dealing with injuries; if he can bounce back to 100% after this long stretch without playing, that may leave him healthier heading into the playoffs.
Dallas enters Wednesday’s game against the Pelicans as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, tied with the LA Clippers for fifth place and a half-game ahead of the LA Lakers in seventh. While their next game is against the Pelicans, four of their next five games following that are against the Oklahoma City Thunder (twice), Minnesota Timberwolves, and Boston Celtics.
If Doncic is to return to the All-Star break while still being weeks away from playing again, that could put his return date around February 6th on the road against the Celtics in an NBA Finals rematch. Dallas’ last game before the break is February 13th against the Miami Heat.