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Mavericks star Luka Doncic injures right foot after scary fall in win over Pelicans

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic appeared to injure his right foot again after taking a hard fall in the third quarter of their 111-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.

Doncic drove to the rim in the third quarter at the American Airlines Center, but was met by Pelicans big man Jonas Valanciunas. Doncic drew the foul, but fell awkwardly and hard on his back in the lane.

He came up clearly in pain, and reached for his right ankle. After trying to stay in the game initially, Doncic walked off and went straight back to the locker room.

The Mavericks then ruled him out the rest of the way with a right heel contusion. While it’s not an ankle injury, it is the same leg that knocked Doncic out for a game last week. It's unknown how long he'll be sidelined, if at all. The Mavericks are set to play next against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.

"We'll see how he feels tomorrow, and we'll have a better update to give you," coach Jason Kidd said after the game, via Bally Sports.

Doncic finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes. He entered Thursday night averaging 33.4 points per game, second to Joel Embiid, along with 8.9 rebounds and 8.3 assists.

The injury came just a week after he initially rolled his right ankle against the Phoenix Suns. He ended up missing just one game, and then returned on Monday to drop 53 points in what was a chippy win over the Detroit Pistons. That marked his fourth 50-point performance of the season, and fifth of his career.

Though the Pelicans cut the game — which was largely a blowout through much of the contest — to just a single possession in the final seconds after a Brandon Ingram bucket, the Mavericks held on to take the five point win without Doncic.

Ingram led New Orleans with 26 points and nine rebounds in the loss. C.J. McCollum added 19 points, and Valanciunas finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Spencer Dinwiddie added 21 points for the Mavericks despite shooting just 4-of-19 from the field. Josh Green dropped 15 points off the bench, too. The Mavericks have now won three of their last four.

Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic was ruled out with a right heel contusion on Thursday night, just days after he returned from a right ankle injury. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)