Injured Lakers star Doncic out for rest of NBA regular season
Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic will miss the remainder of the NBA regular season with a hamstring strain (Cooper Neill) Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic will miss the remainder of the NBA regular season with a left hamstring strain, the team said Friday. Doncic "has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be out for the remainder of the regular season," the Lakers, who have five games left in the regular season, said in a statement. ESPN reported that Doncic, who leads the league in scoring, is "uncertain" for the playoffs.
Doncic's injury is a massive blow to the Lakers, who have clinched a playoff berth but at third in the Western Conference are just one game ahead of the fourth-placed Denver Nuggets. Doncic, who is averaging 33. 5 points per game, 8.
3 assists and 7/7 rebounds, limped out of the third quarter of the Lakers' crushing 139-96 loss to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. The 27-year-old Slovenian was emotional as he hobbled toward the sideline. Moments earlier he had pulled up in obvious pain while driving to the basket.
Doncic had felt some discomfort in the hamstring in the first half of Thursday's game, but coach JJ Redick said team medical staff had cleared him to return for the second half. "We checked him out," Redick said after the game. "He got work done, but he was cleared.
We're not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen. " Doncic produced a magical March campaign, delivering 13 30-point performances.