Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Mavericks breathed a collective sigh of relief on Thursday as NBA star Luka Doncic has avoided a serious injury following an MRI on his thigh.

Doncic exited in the third quarter of Dallas' 113-106 defeat against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday with pain in his thigh.

Currently sitting second in the race for the scoring title at 33.0 points per game, the 24-year-old is one of the few players with a genuine chance to garner MVP votes, also posting a career-best 50% mark from the field.

When asked immediately after Wednesday's game about the state of his injury, he said it was "not good."

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"I didn't get hit, so this is kind of weird for me," he said. "I don't really know what it is. I can feel it mostly on the jump shots because you need both legs, so pushing off has been really hard for me."

After that troubling description, it was almost a surprise when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the "MRI on [Doncic's] thigh is clean and he's expected to return as soon as discomfort allows him."

The Mavericks have a couple of days off before traveling to take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, and they will next be in action when the Grizzlies then head to Dallas for the second leg of a home-and-home on Monday.