The Mavs' star guard was injured in the team's regular-season finale and missed the Game 1 loss to Utah.
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DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic was sidelined for the Dallas Mavericks' 99-93 Game 1 loss to the Utah Jazz in a playoff series Saturday after a left calf strain caused the All-Star guard to miss the regular season. Had to face closure.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said before the Best of Seven series opener that Doncic is day to day. The coach wasn't sure about Doncic's possible availability for Game 2 on Monday night.
"We'll see, the first step is to see how he feels today," said Kidd, who described Doncic as smiling and laughing over the past few days. "He's doing things he should be doing to hopefully play in this series."
Jalen Brunson, who averaged 16.3 points per game in the regular season, was the starting point guard in place of Doncic.
Kidd said throughout the week that Doncic was in a great mood. But Doncic did not practice on Thursday and the team did not practice on Friday.
Doncic finished the regular season as the NBA's third leading scorer on 28.4 points per game. He was the only player in the league to score at least 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game.
Doncic, 23, suffered an injury in the third quarter last Sunday night in what proved to be a meaningless home game for the Mavericks. That victory over San Antonio had no effect on Dallas' standing as the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and opening the playoffs at home for the first time since the NBA championship season 11 years earlier.
He would not have been able to play in that finale against the Spurs if the NBA had not canceled the 16th technical foul that Doncic suffered in the second-to-last regular-season game on April 8. He would have to serve an automatic one-game suspension if a technical glitch was sustained by the league.
"We prepared for Luca for this whole series," said jazz guard Mike Conley. "We prepared for what it would look like without him. They're a team with a deep roster of guys who can make plays. They've shown they can do it over time."