Get the latest Dallas Mavericks injury updates, including Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, Naji Marshall, and P.J. Washington, ahead of their matchup against the Spurs.
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks changed the injury report multiple times before Saturday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs. Coming off a loss against the Utah Jazz, the team seeks to snap a four-game losing streak.
The two recent changes include adding Naji Marshall as questionable due to illness. Meanwhile, P.J. Washington has been upgraded to questionable as he nears a return from a right ankle sprain. Both players fill a pivotal role at the four and are the team’s go-to options as a small-ball frontcourt tandem.
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The rest of the report remains the same, with Luka Dončić (right knee contusion) as probable, while Danté Exum (right wrist surgery) and Jazian Gortman (G League) both being ruled out.
With a right shoulder strain, Kyrie Irving missed Thursday’s loss against the Jazz but was removed from the injury report upon Friday’s initial submission. He will play against the Spurs as the team seeks to turn their recent slide around.
Washington has been trending toward a return to game action. Over the past week, he began competing in 3-on-3 when the Mavericks practiced at Chase Center on Monday. He went through a 2-on-2 workout after the team’s shootaround on Tuesday.
However, the most significant indicator was Washington’s full pre-game workout before facing the Jazz. That’s usually a great sign that someone is close to playing, and the focus is currently on ramping up conditioning.
Dallas made many starting lineup changes against the Jazz, including Dereck Lively II, Maxi Kleber, and Quentin Grimes, all playing in the first unit. When Washington is ready to return to the lineup, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd mentioned that it’s likely he’ll start after Thursday’s loss.
“Yeah, it’s fluid,” Kidd said about the starting lineup. “Just looking at the energy. I thought the group did a great job. Again, we won the first quarter, but as we get healthy, we’ll look at it again and see if there could be a change. Most likely, there will be a change when P.J. comes back.”
If neither Washington nor Marshall can play, Kleber should play an important role. The team also experimented with deploying Dwight Powell as a power forward next to Daniel Gafford and Lively. This occurred against a big frontcourt, though. That may not be necessary against the Spurs.
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