The Los Angeles Lakers will be without superstar guard Luka Doncic for Saturday’s clash with the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers have released their injury report for the contest, and Doncic is one of three players on it.
Doncic (left hamstring strain) and Adou Thiero (right MCL sprain) have both been listed as out. Trade deadline acquisition Luke Kennard (Trade Pending) might miss out as well, having been listed as questionable.
Doncic suffered this hamstring problem during the Lakers’ 119-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. The 26-year-old exited the game in the second quarter and did not return.
Lakers insider Dave McMenamin had previously reported that the team is optimistic that Doncic isn’t dealing with a major issue with his left hamstring. It was still doubtful whether the Slovenian would play against the Warriors, and he is now officially out.
This will be the ninth game Doncic has missed this season, and the Lakers have gone 4-4 without him so far. If he misses more than eight games after this Warriors clash, he’ll be ineligible for end-of-season awards due to the 65-game rule.
Doncic is having a season worthy of multiple honors. He has put up exceptional averages of 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26. Doncic is the NBA’s leading scorer and finds himself in the MVP race. He has never won the award in his career.
While this injury isn’t serious, the timing is a little frustrating from a Lakers standpoint. They had just welcomed Austin Reaves back from a 19-game absence, and now another big gun has gone down.
Doncic, Reaves, and LeBron James were playing together for just the 10th time this season against the 76ers. One of those three just seems to always be out for one reason or another. The Lakers, who improved to 31-19 with the win over the 76ers, will be hoping to have all three stars healthy when they make a push after the All-Star break.
As for the other absentee, this will be the 20th game in a row that Thiero, the 36th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, has missed. The rookie has only featured in 15 games in what has been an injury-hit campaign.
The Lakers will be hoping Kennard doesn’t join Doncic and Thiero as absentees against the Warriors. They had acquired him from the Atlanta Hawks for Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick on Thursday. Lakers head coach JJ Redick is excited about the Kennard acquisition, and this team certainly could use a sniper like him.
Speaking of snipers, the 28-24 Warriors will be without Stephen Curry against the Lakers. This will be the third straight game that Curry misses due to patellofemoral pain syndrome, also known as “runner’s knee”. His co-star Jimmy Butler remains out due to a torn ACL, and new acquisition Kristaps Porzingis misses out with an illness, too.
The Warriors won 119-109 when these teams met on opening night, but a repeat of that result is looking unlikely.
