Mavericks star Luka Doncic missed his 3rd consecutive game Wednesday night as he recovers from spraining his ankle for the 2nd time in the young season on Dec. 10. Doncic has now missed 8 games in 2021 because of his left ankle, after rushing back from a mid-November high ankle sprain in 8 days, and finishing the game after suffering a low ankle sprain last weekend. Independent NBA reporter Marc Stein Tweeted Wednesday night that Doncic will stay in Dallas over the weekend to receive treatment on his sore left ankle while the team goes on the road, which will keep him out for at least 1 more contest. Our team of Pro Basketball Docs believe that is the best course of action, and that the Mavericks need to keep the 22-year-old in street clothes until his left ankle is fully recovered to avoid a long-term issue, a process that may stretch past Christmas and into the new year. Doncic's 2nd sprain, which was a lower inversion that also affected the outside of his ankle, was not an aggravation but it was related and partly due to his lower ligaments compensating for the still-hurting high ankle. As we have seen before, most famously with Stephen Curry, ankles can be fickle, and each sprain makes another one in the future more likely. Doncic, as competitive and strong as he is, is always going to want to play through pain; case in point, he suffered the low ankle sprain with 7:40 left in the 3rd quarter and proceeded to play an extra 13.5 minutes that night, albeit scoring only 4 points on 2-9 shooting. There is no way to eliminate the possibility of re-injury entirely, but the parties involved can certainly help mitigate his left ankle from becoming a lingering ailment. For a player as young and ball-dominant as Doncic, ensuring his ankle is strong enough to make the stretch run during the 2nd half of the season will be essential not only for Dallas' success this season, but for its future with him at the helm.