Is Luka Doncic playing today against San Antonio Spurs? Latest injury update from Mavericks (October 25)

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic is considered questionable for their 2023-24 NBA season-opener against the San Antonio Spurs in an away game on Wednesday, October 25. He continues to recover from a left calf strain.

Luakaka Doncic will play against Spurs. The team was being cautious about the situation of their All-Star guard and was not inclined to rush him if the conditions were not right. He, however, practiced with the team in the days leading up to their first game and felt no soreness on his calf.

Luka Doncic sustained the strain on Omctober 9 during their practice in Madrid, Spain, for their showdown against his former team Real Madrid. Upon their return to Dallas, he went through an MRI exam

The Serbian star had a solid year for the Mavericks last season, finishing with a career-best 32.4 points to go along with 8.6 rebounds, eight assists and 1.4 steals in 66 games. They, however, missed the playoffs for the second time under his lead.

In the offseason, he was busy leading Team Serbia at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where they wound up in seventh spot.

If Luka Doncic misses the season-opener, fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving is set to lead the Mavericks against prized rookie Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.

Also ruled questionable for the game against San Antonio are guard Jaden Hardy (ankle) and center Dwight Powell (illness).

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Luka Doncic looks to play more off the ball this season

In his first five years in the NBA, Doncic mostly initiated plays for the Dallas Mavericks. However, this season Luka Doncic is looking to play more off the ball since he has an equally capable facilitator in fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving.

The 24-year-old standout from Serbia shared this in an interview with Sports Illustrated, underscoring how playing more off-ball would lessen his load. He thinks it will allow him to do other things on the court while also making their pace faster.

Luka Doncic said:

"Mostly, I don't run … not with the ball. I make the throw-ahead pass. I think that's been working pretty good. Sometimes, I talk with Kai about it. We're going to exchange the handling of the ball. So say, for example, when it's a free throw, maybe I get the ball, but when it's like open, when it's not stoppage, he will take it. So we're going to exchange that."

He sees the attack as having the effect similar to what they achieved with Real Madrid. There, he played with another talented guard in Sergio Llull.

"When I was in Madrid, I played like this," Doncic said."I remember playing with Yul, so we were the same. We would exchange, so I remember playing like this."

Doncic joined Real Madrid when he was just 13 years old and helped the team to seven titles before taking his talents to the NBA.