Luka Doncic returns from 5-game absence vs. Warriors
Luka Doncic is averaging 33.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists this season in Dallas.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic will be available to play against Golden State (7:30 ET, ESPN) after missing five straight games due to injury.
Doncic has been out with a left thigh strain that required an MRI. The test didn’t show significant damage, but Doncic still missed two weeks after limping through the last game before he was sidelined.
Fellow Dallas star Kyrie Irving is out with right foot soreness after aggravating his injury in a 112-108 loss at Memphis on Monday and leaving the arena in a walking boot.
Doncic and Irving have played together in nine of 17 games since Irving was acquired from Brooklyn before the trading deadline. Dallas is 3-6 in those games.
The meeting of last season’s Western Conference finalists comes with both teams trying to stay out of the play-in tournament while also being at risk of missing the playoffs altogether.
The defending champion Warriors (37-36), who beat Dallas in five games in the West finals last spring, are a half-game ahead of the Mavericks (36-36). The winner will hold the tiebreaker between the teams with a 2-1 edge in the season series.
Golden State is mostly healthy, with stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both set to play and Draymond Green listed as probable with right wrist soreness.
The Warriors just ended an 11-game road losing streak, their longest in 13 years, with a 121-108 victory in Houston. The Dallas game is the finale of a five-game road trip. Golden State is 8-29 on the road.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
