Los Angeles Lakers fans have been anxiously awaiting a Luka Doncic injury update, but instead of being gifted some unforeseen good fortune, they were hit with the most realistic news. The Slovenian superstar will miss the rest of the regular season, and his status for the playoffs is currently unknown, per ESPN's Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin.
Doncic grabbed his left hamstring in pain during the third quarter of Thursday night's 139-96 loss versus the Oklahoma City Thunder and did not return. LA was trailing by 32 points at the time, leaving many to wonder why he was even in the game. Lakers head coach JJ Redick wanted to see if his dynamic offensive trio could cut the deficit in the first several minutes of the second half before waving the white flag. There is no point in the team looking to the past now, however.
Los Angeles must figure out a way to produce high-level offense without the NBA's leading scorer, at least for the time being. Doncic is surely gutted to land on the sidelines indefinitely, but he must also stay composed and hopeful. The team is still in line to earn home-court advantage for its opening round playoffs matchup and will have about a week to recover after the regular season ends on April 12. Perhaps that period of regrouping and preparation will do wonders for Doncic.
There is no way of knowing much of anything right now, though. Hamstring injuries are tricky to navigate and can take weeks to properly heal. The Lakers have been meshing well for the last month-plus, racking up impressive victories over the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets (twice) and Cleveland Cavaliers. Their cohesion is a key reason why they currently occupy third place in the Western Conference standings.
But this squad's identity is heavily linked to Luka Doncic. He is averaging 33.5 points per game on 47.6 percent shooting from the field and 36.6 percent shooting from 3-point range. The sensational guard is also posting 8.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest, having a hugely positive effect in multiple areas. He is irreplaceable.
Fortunately, LA still has two incredibly capable scorers in LeBron James and Austin Reaves. The team will need to lean on them on offense and stand firm on defense. Though, unless Doncic returns in the playoffs, a deep run seems implausible.
