Wiggins still out; Doncic returns for key Golden State-Dallas showdown

DALLAS — With just nine games left in the regular season, the Golden State Warriors will square off against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night in a key game for playoff positioning.

Currently, the 37-36 Warriors are sixth in the West standings with Dallas nestled in seventh at 36-36. The meeting of last season’s Western Conference finalists comes with both teams trying to stay out of the play-in tournament while also being at risk of missing the playoffs altogether.

The defending champion Warriors, who beat Dallas in five games in the West finals last spring, are a half-game ahead of the Mavericks. The winner will hold the tiebreaker between the teams with a 2-1 edge in the season series.

For the 17th straight game, Golden State will be without star forward Andrew Wiggins who has been out dealing with a personal matter.

Meanwhile, Mavericks star Luka Doncic has been upgraded to probable for tonight’s game, likely signaling his return from a five-game injury absence.

Doncic has been out with a left thigh strain that required an MRI. The test didn’t show significant damage, but Doncic still missed two weeks after limping through the last game before he was sidelined.

Fellow Dallas star Kyrie Irving is questionable with right foot soreness after aggravating his injury in a 112-108 loss at Memphis on Monday and leaving the arena in a walking boot.

Doncic and Irving have played together in nine of 17 games since Irving was acquired from Brooklyn before the trading deadline. Dallas is 3-6 in those games.

Other than Wiggins, Golden State is mostly healthy, with stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both set to play and Draymond Green listed as probable with right wrist soreness.

The Warriors just ended an 11-game road losing streak, their longest in 13 years, with a 121-108 victory in Houston. The Dallas game is the finale of a five-game road trip. Golden State is 8-29 on the road.