A Luka Doncic injury just took place as the Dallas Mavericks lost to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. The loss was even worse for Mavs fans, as Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic hit the winning shot at the buzzer. It gave the Nuggets a 100-99 victory over the Mavericks. Now, it could be compounded by this Doncic injury.
With just 5.8 seconds left in the game, Doncic drove on the basket and dunked hard on the Nuggets defenders. It gave the Mavericks a 99-98 lead and a chance to expand on that lead with a free throw. He missed the free throw, though, and it was starting to become clear that something happened during that dunk.
Luka Doncic dunked on the whole state of Colorado to give Dallas the lead, hurt his hand in the process, missed the FT, then had to watch Nikola Jokic hit this mess. No wonder he looks so sick afterward pic.twitter.com/ZcLH4V2dTs
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) March 15, 2019
What is the Luka Doncic injury?
After the Mavs took the one-point lead, the game went to a commercial break. When it came back, the TNT announcers were speaking about what had happened.
During the dunk, Luka Doncic injured his right hand. He could be seen shaking it in pain on the sidelines. The injury was such an issue that Doncic was kept off the court for the final play of the game.
As Jokic was hitting the game-winning shot, Doncic could be seen bent over in pain on the sidelines. There has been no update from the team, yet, on what took place during that dunk, but the pain was enough for Doncic to sit out that final play.
He will likely be examined and the results of the tests performed on Doncic should come out Friday.
So far in his rookie season, Luka Doncic has placed himself in the running for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. It will likely come down to a vote between Doncic and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.
There is also likely to be a Luka Doncic injury update early on Friday from the Dallas Mavericks.