Is Luka Doncic playing tonight? Latest injury update for Mavericks vs. Lakers

As the Dallas Mavericks fight to keep themselves in the thick of top-six in the Western Conference, Luka Doncic is currently recovering from a right ankle sprain. While the Mavericks have not looked like world-beaters without one of the top stars in the league, they have gone 2-1 in the three games he's missed since suffering the injury. With the Mavericks losing ground in the Pascal Siakam trade sweepstakes, the superstar might be coming back sooner rather than later.

Luka Doncic injury status for against the Lakers

After missing the last four games with a right ankle sprain, Luka Doncic's status for tonight's game is still up in the air. As Marc Stein reports, the All-NBA star is doing well in his injury recovery. Still, it's not a guarantee that he ends up playing in this game.

Dallas has been able to stay alive without Doncic which could be the reason for the squad to wait until their next game on Friday against the Warriors. While the Lakers have their issues, a reasonable expectation is that the James-Davis duo can probably take the Doncic-less Mavs in what would be a close finish. The squad hasn't looked perfect without the superstar but has gotten by.

In their first game without Doncic, Kyrie Irving went off against a Knicks team that doesn't have a lot of defensive power at the guard spot. While the Lakers have more depth at the guard spot than the Knicks, there really isn't any defensive star at the guard spot for the Lakers.

To be quite honest, the Mavericks could probably still steal one from the Lakers with the way that Darvin Ham has been playing his rotations. Still at the end of the day, the team would probably like to have Doncic rather than not. Whether he play or not will most likely not be revealed until 90 minutes before game-time.