Injured star Luka Doncic will join the Dallas Mavericks on their upcoming road trip, which starts Saturday in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.
After missing the past five games due to an injured wrist, Doncic returned to practice with his teammates on Friday and “looked good,” according to coach Jason Kidd. Doncic is officially listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game; Dallas plays the Trail Blazers in Portland on Sunday.
Unlike last season, when the Mavericks only won four of 12 games in Doncic’s absence, Dallas has fared well without their top gun since he was injured on Nov. 19 against New Orleans. The Mavs are 4-1 in that stretch, including a 129-119 win at Atlanta on Monday and Wednesday’s 129-114 victory over the New York Knicks.
Remarkably, Dallas had four players score at least 20 points in each of those most recent wins, setting a team record. Against the Knicks, Naji Marshall scored 24, Kyrie Irving had 23 and Quentin Grimes and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 21 each.
Marshall has been particularly effective in Doncic’s absence. He’s averaged 23 points on 63.3 percent shooting while hitting half of his 3-point attempts in the past four games.
Dallas’ depth has been critical to their 11-8 record. They’ve had at least six players reach double figures in each of their last six games. In the Mavericks’ 123-120 win over Denver on Nov. 22, seven players scored in double figures.
Field Level Media contributed to this story.