Mavs' Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving Out vs. T-Wolves with Ankle, Thumb Injuries

The Dallas Mavericks will be a bit shorthanded on Wednesday night.

Luka Dončić has been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a right ankle sprain, and Kyrie Irving has also been ruled out with a right thumb sprain. Additionally, Dereck Lively II is sidelined with a broken nose.

A right ankle sprain most recently sidelined Dončić, a four-time All-Star, for a win over the New York Knicks on Jan. 11.

Dončić is enjoying another prolific season. Through 40 games, he has averaged 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.6 assists. His 37.5 percent clip on three-pointers is on pace to be a career high as well.

Irving is also putting together a solid season despite missing time due to injuries. He's averaging 25.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 27 games while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor and 41.1 percent from deep.

Unlike last year, though, Dončić and the Mavs aren't fighting an uphill climb to make the postseason. The team is 26-21 and seventh in the tightly packed Western Conference.

Having Irving from the outset has obviously helped. Lively, a first-round draft pick, has also provided the defending and rebounding many highlighted as his NBA-ready skills on draft night. The Mavs are getting contributions from some unexpected sources, too, namely Derrick Jones Jr. and Dante Exum.

It's impossible to know Dallas' true ceiling until the playoffs roll around, but the general atmosphere around the franchise is a major contrast to where it was at the end of 2022-23.

Dončić's health is clearly critical toward the Mavericks making a deep postseason run, one the organization covets. That's the big-picture focus.

Losing him for even a limited stretch in the regular season could, however, carry a cost when only a few games may make a sizable difference in where Dallas finishes in the West.