The Lakers were playing the 76ers at the Crypto.com Arena tonight when Luka Doncic, their Slovenian All-Star, seemingly aggravated a left leg injury while driving in on a play. He did not twist or tweak his left in any unnatural manner, so likely not a serious issue.
But the Lakers decided to rule him out for the rest of the night due to soreness in his left leg. He was done for the game with 10 points, four rebounds, and two assists after just 16 minutes of action tonight.
The Lakers guard shot 3-10 from the floor (30.0 FG%) while not making a single shot from beyond the arc in four attempts. The night simply went from bad to worse for him. He was seen frustrated while limping back to the locker room with a little over two minutes left in the second quarter.
The 26-year-old guard had previously hurt his left leg by tweaking his ankle against the Cavaliers on January 28 due to a poorly designed court. Fortunately for the Lakers, he did not miss any games subsequently.
But it seems he may have aggravated something that may have been initially caused by that incident. But I am not a doctor, just a pondering spectator.
However, according to Dr. Evan Jeffries, the NBA and NFL’s injury insider, the concerns seem to be with his hamstring as he was seen holding it shortly before limping back to the locker room. If it is a hamstring injury, Dr. Jeffries detailed the expected ranges of missed time depending on the severity of the injury.
“Luka Doncic does NOT start the second half due to a hamstring injury. Fear would be for strain. Timeline to return- Tightness: Day to Day, Grade I: 1-2 weeks, Grade II: 4-6 weeks,” wrote Dr. Jeffries on X.
This raises the fear that Doncic, just like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and potentially Anthony Edwards, might end up missing the All-Star game next week. The Lakers’ fans will likely have their fingers crossed, hoping that’s not the case.
The Lakers, after a nail-biting game until the end of the third quarter (85-87, 76ers had a two-point lead), created a double-digit separation by midway through the fourth.
Eventually, the game went down to the wire after V.J. Edgecombe caught a crucial steal and nailed a three-point shot while nearly falling out of bounds to give the 76ers hope with less than a minute left on the clock.
While they fought their way to a 119-115 victory, the Lakers would certainly have loved to have Doncic on the floor as well while doing that.
The Lakers improved their season record to 31-19 following tonight’s win and are now preparing to host Stephen Curry and the Warriors on Saturday. Meanwhile, the 76ers fell to 29-22 and will face the Suns in Phoenix for their next game on Saturday as well.
