Mavs star Doncic out again with thigh injury at lowly Spurs

Updated Mar. 14, 2023 7:52 p.m. ET

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Dallas star Luka Doncic will miss a third consecutive game with a left thigh strain when the Mavericks visit San Antonio on Wednesday night.

The four-time All-Star had an MRI on the thigh after leaving a 113-106 loss to New Orleans in the third quarter last week. The MRI was clear, giving Dallas hope Doncic wouldn't be sidelined long.

The Mavericks (34-35) are under .500 for the first time since December and have a four-game road losing streak as they start a three-game trip at the lowly Spurs, who have lost six in a row to Dallas.

Doncic and fellow All-Star starter Kyrie Irving, acquired from Brooklyn before the trade deadline last month, missed both games of a home-and-home against Memphis. The Mavericks lost both.

Irving is questionable against the Spurs with right foot soreness, as is Christian Wood with the same injury. Wood missed the second meeting with the Grizzlies.

Tim Hardaway Jr. came out of the second Memphis game with a bruised left calf and also is questionable against the Spurs.

Dallas is in a tight mix of teams trying to finish in the top six in the Western Conference and avoid the play-in tournament. The Mavericks reached the West finals last season, losing to the champion Golden State Warriors.

The San Antonio meeting will be the sixth time in 15 games since Irving's Dallas debut that either he or Doncic or both have been out. They have a 3-6 record together in the first pairing of All-Star starters in Dallas history.

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