Who is in and who is out when the Mavericks take on the Hornets on MLK Day
If you watched Friday’s thrilling win over the Thunder, you know it came at the expense of not one, but two, additional injuries to an already injury-plagued team. Jaden Hardy endured an ankle injury almost as soon as he checked into the game. Joining him on the newly-minted and seemingly ever-growing injury list was Dwight Powell, who slipped on a closeout and found himself in an awkward split which caused a hip injury.
Based on the state of both players as they limped/were helped off the court, it should come as no surprise that neither will be suiting up for Monday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets. Grant Afseth is reporting that both Hardy and Powell will be joining Luka Doncic and Dante Exum as key rotation pieces who won’t be suiting up on MLK Day.
Dallas Mavericks Injury Report vs. Charlotte Hornets:
Dereck Lively II: Questionable (Right Ankle Sprain)
Dwight Powell: Out (Right Hip Strain)
Jaden Hardy: Out (Right Ankle Sprain)
Luka Dončić: Out (Left Calf Strain)
Danté Exum: Out (Right Wrist Surgery)— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) January 19, 2025
The potentially good news in this mix is that Dereck Lively II has been upgraded to Questionable for the Hornets game. Lively suffered an ankle injury of his own on January 14th and then missed the last two games as a result.
At this point, anyone coming back to bolster the roster would be a welcome sight, but this is especially true of the team’s starting center. Whatever the case, this is a very positive sign that his return is much closer than not. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the start of a positive trend as the Mavericks certainly seem to have blown through their injury quota for this season (and beyond!).