The Dallas Mavericks will be hoping to get away with a minor injury after franchise centrepiece Luka Doncic sprained his ankle and departed Thursday's game in the first quarter.

The incident occurred just three minutes into the Mavericks' road game against the Phoenix Suns as Doncic accidentally stepped on a defender's foot, turning his ankle.

Dallas immediately called a timeout and Doncic was helped back to the locker room, before being ruled out at quarter-time.

The Mavericks announced their initial X-rays were negative, indicating there are no broken bones, but they will need an MRI to determine how much damage has been done.

Doncic has suited up for 45 of the Mavericks' 50 games up until this point, and he entered play leading the league in scoring with 33.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists per contest.

His zero points against the Suns could see him fall behind Joel Embiid (33.4 points per game) in the race for the scoring title, but Doncic has already collected one major honour this season after it was announced early on Thursday that he will be an All-Star for the fourth consecutive year, and a starter for the third time.