Mavs' Luka Doncic Downgraded To OUT For Thursday's Game 3

Dallas Mavericks All-Star Luka Doncic will miss his third consecutive playoff game on Thursday against the Utah Jazz due to a calf injury.

The superstar guard will miss a crucial tie-breaking matchup with the series at 1-1.

Dallas kept the series alive in Game 2 with a 110-104 win. With the help of exceptional three-point shooting all game from Jalen Brunson and Maxi Kleber, the Mavs edged out the Jazz and will need a repeat performance without Doncic on Thursday.

Doncic was adamant about joining his team for Game 3 after participating in individual drills on Wednesday.

"If there's going to be risk, I don't think I'm going to play," Doncic told the Mavs media. "But like I say, yesterday and today we did some good things. If it's not risk, I don't want to play limited minutes because I'll be nervous. I want to be out there the most time as possible, but like I say, I'm going to see how I feel and we're going to talk to the medical staff."

He added, "I don't know if I'm going to be 100 percent. I think that's tough right now. But if I'm ready and there's no risk of injury, I'll be out there."

Doncic hurt his calf in the final game of the regular season (April 10) and finds himself still sidelined nearly two weeks later.

Throughout the regular season, Doncic averaged 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists.

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