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Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic opened the season as the betting favorite to win NBA MVP and has done nothing to change that with his play, although he’s now the +450 second favorite on the NBA lines behind two-time reigning champion Nikola Jokic (-120) only as Jokic has been historically good.

Mavericks Star Luka Doncic Will Miss Time

Doncic may fall further back on the futures odds because he’s going to miss some time after a scary ankle injury early in Thursday’s game at Phoenix – somehow, the Mavericks won 99-95 without him as Spencer Dinwiddie picked up the scoring slack with 36 points to key the victory. Doncic suffered the injury when he stepped on a Suns defender’s foot while pivoting a few minutes into the game. Dallas called a timeout with 8:39 remaining in the first quarter to substitute for Doncic, who immediately limped to the locker room. He wouldn’t return.

On the bright side, X-rays were negative but the Mavericks obviously will play it cautious: “He looked good. He looked fine,” coach Jason Kidd said after the game. “But we’ll see as we go forward here.”

Doncic’s ankle has been giving him issues for a while, and he has been on the injury report on a regular basis. Doncic, who was selected as an All-Star starter, entered as the NBA’s leading scorer with 33.8 points per game. He is also averaging a team-best 9.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game.

He already is the franchise’s all-time leader in triple-doubles (56), having produced more than the rest of the Mavericks franchise combined (40) and is three away from tying Celtics legend Larry Bird for 9th on the NBA’s all-time list for triple-doubles (59).

Doncic is seeking to become the first player in franchise history to lead the league in scoring. Mark Aguirre (2nd, 29.5 ppg, 1983-84) and Doncic (3rd, 28.4 ppg, 2021-22) are the only Mavericks to finish in the Top 3. Doncic has produced 63 career 35-point efforts, which is tied with Bob McAdoo for the second-most 35-point games by a player 23-or-younger in NBA history. Only LeBron James (87), who is poised to become the league’s all-time leading scorer, has produced more before his 24th birthday.

Dallas is 0-5 in games Doncic hasn’t played this season and averaging just 107.6 points in those games. The Mavericks already are missing two other starters in forward Maxi Kleber (right hamstring tear) and center Christian Wood (left thumb fracture).

There’s likely no chance that Doncic plays at Utah on Saturday. The home team has taken the last eight regular-season meetings in that series and that seems likely to continue with no Luka. He holds career regular-season averages of 25.9 points (.468 FG, .407 3FG), 7.4 rebounds and 6.5 assists in 11 games against Utah. Expect Dinwiddie to remain the primary offensive option while Doncic is out if considering some props wagers. Dinwiddie is riding his best stretch of the season, putting up 23.3 points, 6.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game over the past eight.

The Mavericks host Detroit on Monday and New Orleans on Thursday – we wouldn’t expect to see Doncic before the Pelicans game and perhaps not until a national TV matchup on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Golden State to start a five-game road trip. At 26-24, Dallas holds down the final playoff spot in the West but only a game ahead of No. 7 Phoenix, No. 8 Minnesota and No. 9 Golden State. Teams that finish seventh through 10^th head to the play-in tournament.