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The Oklahoma City Thunder waited over a week in the Western Conference Semifinals for the Dallas Mavericks, who were tested by the Los Angeles Clippers in six games during the first round of the playoffs. With just three games to rest before having to take on the best team in the Western Conference, the Mavs looked out of gas and were simply defeated during Monday night’s Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is one of the reasons why the Thunder took the first game of this series with an emphatic 117-95 victory. However, the biggest concern and reason for the Mavs collapse in Game 1 was Luka Doncic’s knee injury.
Throughout their first-round series against the Clippers, Doncic was seen limping around at times with some sort of right knee ailment. He first appeared on the injury report ahead of Game 4 of this series with what the team called “right knee soreness.” Doncic responded to being listed as questionable for the first time in the playoffs with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists against Los Angeles. It was later revealed by head coach Jason Kidd that Doncic has been dealing with a knee sprain, an injury that he would likely sit out games to recuperate from if this were the regular season.
The Thunder, who are known for being a young and energetic team that gets after it on defense, did not hold back against Luka in Game 1 on Tuesday night. Doncic turned the ball over five times, and he was held to just 19 points, six rebounds, and nine assists. This snapped Doncic’s four-game double-double streak, and his 19 points were the fewest the Mavs star has scored since he scored 19 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 5.
One of the main problems in Game 1 for Doncic and the Mavs was the fact that they were taken out of rhythm early on by Mark Daigneault’s bunch. They weren’t getting great looks near the rim, and Dallas went cold from the perimeter after knocking down four triples in the opening quarter.
The most concerning part of Game 1 was the fact that Luka did not look right all game long. Aside from favoring his right leg at times, Doncic simply looked out of gas. His knee injury is certainly the talk of the town in Dallas right now, and whether or not he can strengthen himself between games will play a major role in deciding who advances to the Western Conference Finals.
Luka Doncic discusses knee injury after Game 1
Tuesday night marked just the third time in Doncic’s career that he failed to score at least 20 points in a playoff game. Entering Game 1, he had scored 20 or more points in 24 straight playoff games. Perhaps this was a mix of Doncic’s injury coming into play on a night in which he simply did not have it shooting the basketball, as he went just 1-of-8 from three-point range, marking the third time in the last four games he has failed to make more than one triple.
Then again, Luka’s knee concerns continue to grow, especially after he didn’t seem too optimistic in his postgame remarks.
“It’s just hurting,” Doncic said, via Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “Less mobility. Less explosiveness when I’m driving the ball. But it’s about the same. These days gave me a little more time to rest, a little more time to rehab.”
The bad news for Luka and the Mavs is that they don’t really have any gaps on their schedule for his knee to simply rest and recover. After Thursday’s Game 2 in Oklahoma City, the Mavericks will head back to Dallas for Game 3 on Saturday, followed by Game 4 on Monday. Currently in the midst of a shooting slump, Doncic will now need to take extra time during practice to receive treatment for his knee sprain.
It is not that his knee is hurting that is the concern for Dallas. It’s the fact that Doncic admitted that he is less mobile. This impacts the Mavs’ entire offense, as more pressure is now placed on Kyrie Irving to carry the load offensively. At times, this team has shown their depth. PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, Josh Green, and Tim Hardaway Jr. are more than capable of helping their stars. Against the Thunder in Game 1, the secondary production simply wasn’t there to mask Doncic’s poor scoring performance.
Still, Doncic is not going to make this series about his shooting struggles or those stemming from his injury.
“Who cares? We lost,” Doncic stated. “We just gotta move on to the next one. I gotta be better, we gotta be better… We gotta focus. They’re a great team, great defensive team, great offensive team. So it’s not going to be easy at all. We gotta play very good basketball and focused basketball for 48 minutes.”
Are Mavericks doomed vs. Thunder?
Despite being the second-youngest team in the league, the Thunder show a lot of fight every time they take the court. The 95 points they surrendered to the Mavericks in Game 1 of this series were the most points they have given up to their opponents. Oklahoma City did not allow more than 92 points to the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs. Aside from their brilliance on defense, the Thunder also dominated the glass, outrebounding Dallas 52-39, including 16-11 on offensive rebounds.
All across the board, the Thunder simply beat the Mavs in this first game. The fact that Doncic had a very poor offensive performance simply added to what was already a disaster for his team.
Now, the questions surrounding Doncic’s knee injury cast a lot of doubt on whether the Mavs have a chance to win this series against the Thunder. Adjustments will be made, and Kidd is going to put his team in a different position to try and find success. With this said, what else can the Mavs truly do if Doncic is not 100 percent?
Their entire offense flows through him. Without Doncic, the Mavs still have Irving to lean on, but he has proven throughout the course of his career that he’s much better playing off of another star. If you need proof of this, just go back and look at the numbers Kyrie recorded when he was with LeBron James during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ title run in 2016.
It may be a little premature to say that this series is over. The Thunder obviously have the early edge and home-court advantage, but the Mavs also lost Game 1 of their first-round series to the Clippers.
What happens in Game 2 will be the pivotal turning point of this series for either side. Regardless of if Doncic is severely hurt or not, he is going to need to step up and find a way to succeed in Oklahoma City because the Mavericks can’t operate without him. Teams that win Game 1 of a playoff series go on to win roughly 77 percent of the time. Teams that take a 2-0 series lead go on to win over 92 percent of the time.
A 0-2 deficit to the Thunder and Doncic continuing to struggle with a knee injury would almost be a death sentence for Dallas.
More must-reads:
- Pacers ride historic shooting performance to Game 7 blowout of Knicks
- Knicks' Jalen Brunson suffers serious injury in Game 7 vs. Pacers
- The 'Most triple-doubles in the postseason' quiz
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