The Los Angeles Lakers enter the NBA All-Star break in a surprisingly precarious situation. They are fifth in the Western Conference at 33-21 following Thursday's defeat of the Dallas Mavericks. But injuries have wreaked havoc over the first half, with Luka Doncic being the latest to go down.
Doncic suffered a hamstring injury last week, missing the last couple of games. But on Friday, it was revealed that Doncic is intending on playing in the All-Star Game on Sunday, according to Marc Stein.
The Lakers' superstar underwent a pregame workout on Thursday. It apparently went well enough for him to get a green light for at least limited action.
That sets the stage for Doncic to make his Lakers return after the break. Los Angeles opens the second half of the season next Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
At this point, every game is crucial for playoff positioning. Only three games separate the No. 3 seed Denver Nuggets and No. 7 seed Phoenix Suns. The Lakers are a half-game behind the Houston Rockets for fourth and percentage points ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
During the four games without Doncic, Los Angeles went 2-2. They beat the hapless Golden State Warriors and Mavs, while losing to contenders. First, the Oklahoma City Thunder won 119-110. That was followed up by a throttling at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs at home.
Before Luka went down, they had just gotten Austin Reaves back from injury. Reaves missed much of the season with a calf injury. The trio of Doncic, Reaves, and LeBron James has hardly played together this season.
If the Lakers want any chance of competing with the best in the West, all hands will be needed.
