Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic sprained his left ankle at the end of the third quarter of Friday’s 130-122 defeat to the LA Clippers in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series and was left out after a brief comeback in the fourth quarter.
Doncic crashed after rolling his ankle while defending Kawhi Leonard in a drive for the basket with 3:58 left in the fourth. He immediately grabbed his left ankle and, after being helped up, Doncic jumped off the floor and up the tunnel with his right foot.
Doncic returned early in the fourth quarter and was clearly limping before coming out with 9:02 remaining. The Mavs announced that Doncic would not be returning a few minutes later.
Doncic, a 21-year-old All-Star, skipped exercises twice after spraining his right ankle this season, remaining seated for a total of 11 games.
Doncic averaged 35.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists while Mavs and Clippers split the first two games of the series. He scored 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 3, becoming the third youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double in the playoffs, behind only Magic Johnson and LeBron James.
.
