Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic played sick in the Lakers' 116-104 Game 3 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. Lakers head coach JJ Redick even admitted Doncic had been “vomiting all afternoon” leading up to the game. The good news is Doncic isn't on the Game 4 injury report, and ESPN's Shams Charania gave an update on the star's status in the hours before Sunday's showdown.
“Luka Doncic is rested. He's feeling much better. Outside of a team meeting and individual treatment, I'm told Luka Doncic spent all of Saturday sleeping in his bed, which is something he could not do on Thursday and Friday when he was dealing with a viral bug … He's feeling a lot stronger. He is ready to go for Game 4 today after spending all of Saturday pretty much sleeping and bed-ridden.”
Reporting for ABC NBA Countdown on how Lakers star Luka Doncic spent his Saturday ahead of Game 4 against Minnesota today: pic.twitter.com/O7Z0ez4Azj
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 27, 2025
Lakers will need a healthy Luka Doncic to beat Timberwolves




While LeBron James had a monster Game 3 with 38 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, Luka Doncic struggled as he battled his illness. The Lakers star finished with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting and 2-of-8 from 3-point range while handing out eight assists and turning the ball over five times. Los Angeles got outscored by 16 points in Doncic's 40 minutes.
Despite Doncic's struggles, the Lakers were right there in crunch time. The star guard tied the game at 103 with 4:37 left, but the Timberwolves went on a 13-1 run to close the game, taking a 2-1 series lead in the process.
Los Angeles will be hoping to get big performances from both Luka and LeBron in Game 4 to tie this series up. Given Shams' update on Doncic, we should expect a much better effort out of him. However, the Lakers stars will need some help as well, so will any of the role players step up?
If things go poorly, Los Angeles will be in big trouble heading back home.