The Dallas Mavericks have started the season 5-7, not how they envisioned their attempt to defend their Western Conference crown. Luka Doncic entered the season as the MVP favorite, and while his base stats of 29.3 PPG, 8.0 APG, and 8.0 RPG look fine, he's shooting poorly from the floor and from three.

Mavs 108, #Magic 85. Luka Doncic scores 25 of his game-high 32 points in the first half. He shot 50% from the field on 11-of-22 FGs. The Pacers, who are 2-4, will visit

The Slovenian had 37 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for Dallas in an otherwise impressive showing, especially without Kyrie Irving, who missed the game with a shoulder injury

For the game, Luka Doncic is on the injury report, but he is listed as probable, so he should be available. Via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News: "Mavs star Luka Doncic (right knee contusion) was at today’s shootaround.

The Dallas Mavericks are struggling horribly, and Luka Doncic's new and unexpected weakness has been a huge reason for that.

On Thursday night, it looked as though the stars had aligned for the Dallas Mavericks in their bid to put an end to their three-game losing streak. Even with Kyrie Irving having to miss out due to a shoulder injury,