Luka Doncic admits concern over quad soreness after pacing Mavs past Warriors / News - Basketnews.com

Luka Doncic scored 39 points in the Dallas Mavericks' win over the Golden State Warriors. However, the Slovenian star is dealing with an injury which he called a little bit concerning.

Credit: USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con-Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con-Scanpix

Luka Doncicwon a scoring duel over Stephen Curry, Dante Exum and Josh Green combined for 37 points and the Dallas Mavericks held off the Golden State Warriors 132-122 on Saturday night in San Francisco.

Player of the Game EFF 36 Luka Doncic Points 39 Accuracy 14-29 Rebounds 8 Assists 10

Doncic went for a game-high 39 points, 14 more than Curry in their first head-to-head of the season, helping the Mavericks end a two-game losing streak while extending the Golden State skid to three.

Dallas led most of the way, including by as many as 16 points, before Jonathan Kuminga's 3-pointer got the Warriors within 112-106 with still 6:01 to play.

But Doncic countered with a jumper and Jalen Hardy buried a 3-pointer, creating a double-digit advantage from which the hosts could never fully recover.

Golden State did manage to creep within 119-114 after consecutive 3-pointers by Curry and Chris Paul, before Doncic dropped in a pair of free throws with 2:31 to go and Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a short jumper 34 seconds later, icing the win.

Doncic hit 14 of his 29 shots and five 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds and a game-high 10 assists for Dallas. The 132 points were the most given up by the Warriors in a home game this season.

Per Sports Illustrated's Grant Afseth, Doncic was a game-time decision after being listed as questionable with left quad soreness, an injury that caused him to miss the team's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That's why he had to test out how he felt in a pre-game workout.

"Yeah, I tried it," Doncic said. "I think at first I was really good. Then, in the third quarter, I started feeling it again. That's why I had to warm up to see how it was."

Doncic acknowledged his quad injury had been the cause of "a little bit of concern" and highlighted the importance of staying consistent with his work in "trying to keep lifting in the weight room."

"That helps me a lot, so I have to do that every day now," he commented. "But obviously, there's a little bit of concern on my side."

Mavs coach Jason Kidd admitted that Doncic had aggravated his left quad in the Christmas game against the Phoenix Suns and pointed out that there wasn't enough time for him to recover on a back-to-back game.

Doncic is averaging 33.9 points, 9.3 assists, and 8.4 rebounds in 30 games this season.

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