It’s difficult to argue against the Dallas Mavericks’ tendency to exhaust Luka Doncic at this point in the season. Although the 23-year-old has the benefit of youth on his side, all this heavy lifting will eventually catch up to Doncic.
The good news for the Mavs is that they’re about to get one of their backcourt players back from injury. Josh Green, who went down with a shoulder knock in early December, is now nearing his return to the court. ESPN’s NBA insider Tim MacMahon reports that Green scrimmaged with his team for the first time on Wednesday since sustaining his shoulder injury. The 6-foot-5 two-guard is reportedly close to coming back, but no timetable has been set as of the moment.
What is clear, however, is that Josh Green won’t be in the lineup when Doncic and the Mavs take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. Likewise, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber will remain sidelined as Dallas continues to deal with a myriad of injuries on their roster. Dwight Powell has also popped up on the injury report, being tagged as questionable for Thursday’s clash with a right hip contusion.
As for the Lakers, it remains to be seen if LeBron James will be back in the lineup against the Mavs after sitting out Monday’s blowout loss against the Nuggets. The Lakers are also dealing with an injury crisis within their squad, and it goes without saying that they need LeBron back in the lineup as soon as humanly possible.
Source: https://clutchpoints.com
