Luka didn’t sleep much after Game 1, not 100 percent for Game 2

Warriors

Luka didn’t sleep much after Game 1, not 100 percent for Game 2

Luka Dončić will play in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the Warriors on Friday night at Chase Center, but he won’t be at full strength.

After play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Harlan said Thursday that the Mavericks’ star was sick following the Warriors’ Game 1 win, TNT’s Allie LaForce spoke to Dončić prior to Friday’s game, confirming details about his illness and the severity of it.

“He just told me about an hour ago that he didn’t feel sick until after he got to the hotel after Game 1,” LaForce said during TNT’s “Inside the NBA” an hour before tipoff. “Gets to his room and he’s throwing up, he cannot sleep for even a second. So he wasn’t 100 percent at practice the next day. I said ‘Well, did you get better sleep last night?’ and he said ‘Eh, not really.’ I said ‘Well, did you sleep eight hours?’ And he said ‘No, but I did get better sleep than the night before.’ So he is on very little sleep. He did sound stuffed up to me still. He is not 100 percent.”

Dončić had one of the worst playoff games of his career, finishing with 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting from the field in Game 1.

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was asked about Dončić’s health when he met with reporters at 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Kidd said. “To my knowledge, he was good this morning. He was good this afternoon. I don’t know if he was sick or not sick, but I think he’s doing fine.”

Dončić also has been dealing with a shoulder injury, something he grabbed at several times during Game 1 on Wednesday night.

“He told me it’s the same shoulder injury he has been dealing with since the Phoenix series,” LaForce said. “In Phoenix, he tried to get some cupping done. He said that didn’t really help, so he’s just massaging it out, having a physical therapy team massage it. He said ‘I’m going to tape it up and just go.’ So at this point, it really is about pain tolerance for him with his illness and with his right shoulder.”

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Dončić has a history of helping the Mavericks bounce back after losses, so the Warriors should expect the 23-year-old to come out on a mission in Game 2. But he’s going to have summon all the energy he has in order to send the series back to Dallas tied one game apiece.

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