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SALT LAKE CITY — Dallas guard Spencer Dinwiddie sure sounded optimistic Luka Doncic will be suiting up on Saturday for Game 1.
"Seems solid to me," said Dinwiddie after practice on Tuesday. "I mean, he don't seem like a guy that's going to miss too much time, if any."
Dallas didn't provide much more details on Doncic Tuesday, who sprained his calf during the Mavericks' season-finale game. The team announced an MRI confirmed the initial diagnosis, and there won't be a timetable for Doncic's return.
So there continues to be a shroud of mystery surrounding the status of one of the NBA's elite players for when Dallas hosts Utah Saturday in the series opener.
"He's in great spirits today," Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said. "We'll see how his body feels tomorrow, but I think we'll prepare with him, and then we'll also prepare without him — just like any injury that we've had all season. But for him, it's just see how his body feels each day. We all hope he's able to go in Game 1."
And if he's not, he won't play. Kidd made it clear the Mavericks won't risk another injury by bringing Doncic back too early.
"If it's hurt where he can't play, we're not going to roll him out there," Kidd said. "And do something in a situation to make things worse."
But while the Mavericks are publicly being optimistic, there's reportedly a growing worry over Doncic's availability for Game 1 and going forward.
"There's a lot of concern about how quickly in this playoff series Luka Doncic will be available against Utah," ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on ESPN's "NBA Today." "I'm told if this was the regular season, you wouldn't even be talking about Luka Doncic playing games this weekend."
Wojnarowski said he's been told the injury was a "bit more than a mild strain."
"The Mavericks have been guarded in talking about his availability, but certainly, there's concern," Wojnarowski said. "He had that MRI yesterday (Monday). The hope is that he will play in this series. Certainly, uncertainty whether he will be on the floor when the series starts Game 1 on Saturday."
The Mavericks aren't required to release an injury report for Saturday's game, so expect the mystery about Docic's status to continue until at least then — and more likely up until game time.
So what does this all mean for Utah?
Obviously, without Doncic, Dallas is a much less potent team, but the Jazz said the uncertainty surrounding the Mavericks' most important player isn't impacting their preparation.
"I don't think you can predict anything," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "You certainly prepare for him to play, and there's times when he's off the floor. They're an excellent team, so I think you prepare to play an excellent team with an elite player, regardless of whether you know what his status is exactly. I don't think we'll know that; it's not something that you can fixate on."
When asked if the Jazz would have two different game plans heading into Saturday's Game 1, one for if Doncic plays and one for if he doesn't, Mitchell answered, "Yes and no."
"Yes, because, obviously, he is who he is," Mitchell said. "He's a force with the basketball and he makes a lot of his guys on their team better. But at the same token, they also have a lot of guys that can fill his role, maybe not to the full extent, but they can do that. You've got Jalen Brunson, you've got Dinwiddie. ... They've still got guys over there who can go get it and they're still a dangerous team."
