Luka Dončić Injury Has NBA Twitter Worried as Mavs Lose to CJ McCollum, Pelicans

Wednesday was a day to forget for Luka Dončić.

Not only did his Dallas Mavericks lose 113-106 to the New Orleans Pelicans in a Western Conference showdown at Smoothie King Center, but he also left with a thigh injury in the third quarter and never returned.

Dallas trailed by as many as 19 points and played from behind for the majority of the game, although it made one final push without its superstar and closed to within three in the final five minutes.

Yet the Pelicans had CJ McCollum on their side, and he took over in the closing stretch by scoring 16 of his team's final 19 points to secure the win. Red-hot shooting from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kyrie Irving during the comeback attempt turned heads, but they were unable to match McCollum.

The loss wasn't the only worrisome development for a Mavericks team that is now 3-7 in its last 10. Dončić's injury also led to some reaction from social media:

Dončić wasn't the only star power missing Wednesday, as Zion Williamson (hamstring) remained out for New Orleans. What's more, Brandon Ingram exited before halftime with an ankle injury and didn't return, which is one reason the Mavericks were able to make one last charge before ultimately losing.

There wasn't a single play that led to Dončić's injury. Rather, he appeared to be laboring at times from the very start and had trouble shaking Herbert Jones' strong defense on his way to just 4-of-14 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 from deep.

Irving did what he could after his running mate exited and finished with 27 points, but it was the McCollum show in crunch time.

Dallas will look to bounce back with a road game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.