Luka Doncic News: Initial update on right ankle injury scare

Earlier today in Dallas Mavericks' game against the Miami Heat, Luka Doncic sprained his right ankle while driving to the rim. As few as two minutes of the ball-game had been played but the Slovenian had to retire to the locker room and did not return for the remainder of the matchup.

We now have an update on the injury and initial X-ray scans have suggested that there's no ligament damage but Doncic has sprained his right ankle.

Only confirmed details are that X-rays were negative and it’s a sprained right ankle for Luka Doncic. It’s concerning that he grabbed the high ankle area while down. https://t.co/00UNlx6VGL

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 15, 2019

Doncic injury concerns

Game footage has shown Doncic writhing in pain holding his right leg. Perhaps what was alarming for the fans was the fact that the 2019 Rookie of the Year was reaching out for the high ankle area while trying to comfort himself.

Now that it's been confirmed that Doncic did sprain his right ankle, there's a strong concern regarding the possibility of the injury being a high ankle sprain which would, at the very least, rule Doncic out for six weeks. However, looking at more replays of the drive where Doncic injured himself, it looks like a case of lateral ankle roll which rarely results in a high ankle sprain.

What does it mean for the Dallas Mavericks?

Thanks to Doncic's November surge, the Mavs emerged us unlikely contenders in the West. However, the 20-year-old now looks set to miss a few weeks of competitive basketball and the injury certainly couldn't have come at a worse time.

Dallas are set to play a tough stretch of games that will see them face-off against the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Toronto Raptors, all in the span of a week. Rick Carlisle would certainly need Kristaps Porzingis and the rest of the crew to step up their game in the absence of Doncic.