Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic has 'sore' neck after hard fall, hopeful he'll play Sunday

Play.

Doncic sinks buzzer-beating 3 after stealing inbound pass.

Luka Doncic knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer after stealing an inbound pass. It was 0: 43.

The time is 11:58 PM.

Luka Doncic said his neck was sore after a hard fall after a drive to the basket, but he was optimistic that he would not miss any time.

Doncic landed on his back after absorbing contact from Biyombo on a drive to the basket with 1:02 remaining in the third quarter. During the timeout, Doncic grabbed the back of his neck and was hunched over on the bench. After consulting with the Mavs' athletic training staff, Doncic applied a heat pack to his neck and played the rest of the game.

It's my neck. "It's the spine, that's what it is," said Doncic, who had 28 points, eight rebound, eight assists and eight turnovers in the loss. I hit my back when I fell. It's pretty sore right now.

The 19-year-old said he would get a lot of massages and steam room over the next few days to prepare for the game.

During Dallas' Game 4 loss to the LA Clippers in the playoffs last season, Doncic had a series low of 19 points, six rebound and six assists, but he played despite a neck strain. The range of motion in his neck was limited and it was difficult to look to either side.

"I think it's worse because it's the spine," Doncic said. It will be okay in a couple days.

The Mavs lost to the Suns, who have the NBA's best record, for the second time in 12 games.

The Suns finished their road trip with a five game winning streak as they defeated the Mavs 35-19 in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter of the previous night's win over the Raptors, Doncic had four points on 2-of-3 shooting and no assists, but he wasn't as aggressive as usual. Chris Paul dominated the frame, scoring 10 points and controlling the pace while playing the whole quarter.

In games where the score is within five points in the final five minutes, Phoenix is 15-3 and has defeated opponents by 58 points.

"We trust each other," said Booker, who led the Suns with 28 points. We had a lot of learning curves last year, but I know that put us in a situation where we never hit the panic button. We don't get flustered or out of whack. We perform well down the stretch if we stick with what we do.