Inside Mavericks Practice: Luka Dončić’s Progress, Testing Lineups, Injury News, and More

Get the latest insights from Mavericks practice, including Luka Dončić’s recovery, lineup testing, injury updates, and key takeaways as the season opener approaches.

Photo via Rashad Miller

DALLAS — Coming off a 107-102 loss against the Utah Jazz, the Dallas Mavericks continued their preparation for the regular season by practicing at their training facility. With less than two weeks before the Mavericks' season opener on Oct. 24 against the San Antonio Spurs, the team is grappling with a significant amount of injuries that have disrupted their training camp and preseason preparations.

Luka Dončić, who has been sidelined since early in training camp, continued to be put in work as he works his way back to competition after a left calf contusion. Head coach Jason Kidd confirmed that Dončić will also miss Monday’s game against the LA Clippers. Kidd didn’t rule out Dončić’s potential availability for Thursday’s preseason finale against the Milwaukee Bucks in what will be used as a “dress rehearsal.”

Aside from Dončić, other injured players include P.J. Washington (left hip tightness), Maxi Kleber (left ankle sprain), Danté Exum (right wrist), Brandon Williams (right calf strain), and Kessler Edwards (left ankle sprain), all of whom did not play on Thursday against the Jazz. Klay Thompson can be added to this list since he wasn’t on the court during the open portion of practice and mentioned experiencing back tightness when speaking to reporters in his post-game press conference.

“He did walk through and did some stuff on the floor, did in the film room, and then he got his treatment,” Kidd said of Thompson. “So we'll see how he feels tomorrow.”

With Dončić being sidelined for almost all of training camp and for most of the preseason, it’s limited the Mavericks’ ability to build on-court chemistry with him and the team’s recent newcomers, particularly Thompson. Kidd

“I’m only going to play the cards that I’m dealt that are cleared to play,” Kidd said. “We have to prepare. Luka [Dončić], Maxi [Kleber], P.J. [Washington], and whoever else is hurt… there’s a lot of ‘em. Maybe they won’t play opening night.”

Observations from Friday’s Practice