Doncic leaves win over Suns with ankle sprain

Dallas superstar Luka Doncic exited in the first quarter of the Mavericks’ 99-95 win over the host Phoenix Suns on Thursday because of a sprained left ankle.

An X-ray was negative, and Mavs coach Jason Kidd said Doncic was in “good spirits” after the game.

“He looked good, he looked fine,” Kidd said. “But we’ll see how he feels as we go forward.”

The Mavericks next play Saturday at Utah.

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 along with Mavs director of player health and performance Casey Smith.

The Mavs announced at the conclusion of the first quarter that Doncic would not return.

Doncic, who was selected as an All-Star starter, entered the night 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.

The Mavs were 0-5 in games Doncic did not play this season, all of which were the second night of back-to-backs.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.