The Dallas Mavericks are now 18-10 after last night's victory over the LA Clippers, and they have been without Luka Doncic for the last two games.
Doncic is dealing with a heel contusion that he suffered from taking an inadvertent kick in Dallas' win over the Golden State Warriors last Sunday, and now the Mavs are going to find a way to win without him.
They've done a good job at winning without him this season, as they are 6-2 without him in the lineup, but him missing so many games early on is quietly hurting his chance to win his first MVP.
Doncic's unlucky injuries are derailing his MVP campaign
In order to win the MVP, you have to play 65 games. Doncic has already missed eight games this season, and they are only 28 games in. This means that Doncic can only miss nine of the final 54 games, and his window to stay healthy enough and have a shot to win this award is only getting smaller.
Doncic has been battling these freak injuries since training camp, as he suffered a calf contusion from an inadvertent kick before the season began which caused him to miss the entire preseason, and he can't catch a break when it comes to staying healthy. He has also dealt with a wrist sprain and a knee contusion this season, and the sudden injuries are going to have to slow down if he wants a shot at winning MVP.
Missing games here and there is normal for superstar players in the NBA, but Doncic's potential nights off are dwindling by the day. If winning the MVP is important to him, he is going to have to find a way to stay healthy down the stretch. It also doesn't help his case that NBA MVP voters seem to highly value how players start the season, and Dallas had a poor start (5-8 over the first 13 games), and Doncic didn't have the most fiery start himself either.
He is getting extremely unlucky when it comes to these injuries, and they have partially led to his slower-than-usual start to this season. He was excellent after he returned from his wrist sprain, as his last game was a 45-point triple-double, and now this heel contusion adds another roadblock to him winning the MVP for the first time.
Last season was his best shot at winning MVP yet, as he averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from downtown, but it still wasn't enough as Dallas was the No. 5 seed and Nikola Jokic won the award.
Doncic also played in 70 games last season, and that included him missing the final two games of the regular season. At this point last year, he had only missed two games. Doncic's eight missed games through the first 28 games of the season are the most games he's missed in this span in his career, with the most games he's ever missed over the first 28 games in a season being seven games in the 2021-22 season.
He ended up playing 65 games in that season, but if he had missed one more game, he wouldn't have been eligible for any of the end-of-season awards such as MVP or being on one of the All-NBA teams.
Doncic's main priority remains winning the NBA Finals over individual awards such as MVP, but still, Mavericks fans want to see him healthy so he at least has a shot at winning the award. These injuries have mostly been completely out of his control, and he could come back stronger than ever once he returns to the lineup.
Doncic's play after returning from his wrist injury was remarkable, and Mavs fans will be hoping for more of the same once he returns from this heel injury.
