With 3:58 left in the third quarter of Game 3 between the LA Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic exited the game after what looked like a left ankle sprain.
After a brief period in the locker room, he returned to start the fourth quarter. He played just under three minutes before checking out of the game for good, as announced by the Mavericks:
Luka Dončić (left ankle sprain) will not return to tonight’s game.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) August 22, 2020
When he left the game the second time, with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter, he had recorded his first career playoff triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.
In doing so, he became the third-youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double in the postseason.
Luka Dončić has become the first player in Mavericks franchise history to record a triple-double in the playoffs following that rebound.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) August 22, 2020
Dončić (21 years, 175 days) becomes the third-youngest player ever to record a triple-double in the playoffs (Magic Johnson, LeBron James). pic.twitter.com/9RhQhfW0UH
Postgame, head coach Rick Carlisle didn't have an update on Doncic's ankle as the team awaits the results of the X-rays. "One of the good things is it's the good ankle, it's not the one that he sprained a few times the last couple of years," he said.
Rick Carlisle said it’s not clear yet the severity of Luka Doncic’s sprained left ankle pic.twitter.com/FMLEkZibKZ
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) August 22, 2020
Twice this past regular season, Doncic has missed stretches of games with right ankle sprains.
Meanwhile, Doncic stated postgame that the left ankle sprain was 'not that bad'. He said that the severity of it will be known after an MRI is done tomorrow.
The Mavericks went on to drop the game 130-122 and now trail the Clippers 2-1 in the series.
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