Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic seems primed to make his postseason debut in Saturday afternoon’s Game 4 vs. the Utah Jazz.
When asked at Friday morning’s shootaround for the “daily Luka update,” coach Jason Kidd quipped, “He did great in film session!” When asked if he was optimistic about Doncic’s Game 4 availability, Kidd replied, “Optimistic? That’s a good word. When you look at what he’s done at this point, he’s going in the right direction.”
Doncic has missed the first three games of the series after suffering a left calf strain in the Mavs’ regular-season finale on April 10.
Doncic also addressed the media Friday, saying he would go through practice and “see how it feels. After practice, we’ll know better.”
Asked if he could have played Thursday night, he replied, “I feel like I could play every game, but the risk was too much.”
Both Kidd and Doncic said the plan was to have Doncic go through 5-on-5 work Friday and see how he feels afterward. Kidd said the forward has experienced “no setbacks” in his recovery.
Practicing patience
When asked if the results of the series thus far have impacted the decision-making on whether Doncic plays, Kidd said, “No. No. Where we are today in the series does not have any effect on if he plays or if he doesn’t play.”
Doncic agreed, saying that wins and losses have not been a factor — solely the way that he has felt.
Still, he acknowledged feeling antsy and ready to go, and conceded that being on the bench to watch the games unfold without him has been difficult.
“It’s been tough
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/udBGlRs
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