Luka Doncic of the Mavericks will play in the season opener

The Mavericks open their season on Thursday night in San Antonio against the Spurs, and although star guard Luka Doncic was initially questionable, his playing status has been elevated. He will take the floor and build on an incredibly successful 2023/24 season, both statistically and in terms of team performances.

According to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning NewsDoncic said his calf feels “perfect” after a leg bruise prevented him from playing in the preseason. While it was always a minor injury, there was no reason to risk further complications by playing him in the Mavericks’ four preseason contests.

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Jason Kidd even said that Doncic could have played if last Thursday’s preseason game had been a postseason situation, and he held him back out of precaution.

“It doesn’t hurt much, but you need to heal,” Doncic said of his injury. “It’s okay now. It’s perfect.” [I’ve] I’ve been practicing, I’m fine.

However, he admitted that it was difficult for him to miss time as he had not played a proper game for some time. When asked if he missed anything in his free time, such as meeting new teammates, he replied: “I mean, probably. I haven’t played a game since.” [Slovenian] National team, so it’s quite difficult. Games are always different than practice. We’ll see that on Thursday.

Doncic averaged 33.9 points, 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds last season, helping Dallas to its first Finals appearance since 2011.

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