Doncic sits out vs. U.S. for precautionary reasons

MALAGA, Spain — All-NBA guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks is off Slovenia’s active roster for Saturday’s exhibition game against the U.S. for what his team called precautionary reasons.

Doncic, 24, tweaked his left knee in the second quarter of Friday’s exhibition against Spain as he was fouling Santi Aldama on a 3-point try. Doncic stayed in the game, scoring 17 points with five turnovers in the 99-79 loss.

The Slovenian national team said in a statement that it was just an “unfavorable blow” for Doncic and that it didn’t “want to leave anything to chance” before traveling to Japan to continue World Cup preparations.

It was the second game in a back-to-back for Slovenia. Doncic had two triple-doubles in his first three appearances with the national team this summer while tuning up for the World Cup that begins later this month.

Slovenia, ranked No. 7 in the world by FIBA, is seeking its first World Cup medal after finishing fourth at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.

Slovenia plays its final tuneup against Japan on Aug. 19. It opens World Cup play against Venezuela on Aug. 26 in Okinawa, Japan. Games follow against Georgia (Aug. 28) and Cape Verde (Aug. 30).

The World Cup runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

Doncic averaged 32.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8 assists per game last season for the Mavericks. He’s one of two All-NBA players from last season scheduled to play in the World Cup; Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City is the other.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.