All-Star guard Luka Doncic is nearing a return to basketball activities for the first time since sustaining a hamstring injury in early April. On Sunday, Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick confirmed that Redick had progressed from “standstill” workouts to a little more movement on the court.
“He just continues to kind of do some stuff on the court,” Redick said ahead of Game 4 vs the Houston Rockets, via Benjamin Royer of the OC Register.
“Was able to move a little bit today on the court, which, you know, most of the stuff has been standstill. So he’s progressing, but no update on any timeline or anything like that.”
Luka Doncic Return Timeline
While the Lakers have refused to provide a definitive timeline for Luka Doncic’s return, sports medicine expert Dr. Evan Jeffries calls it “great news” that the Slovenian has progressed to movement workouts and predicts that the six-time All-Star should realistically return to game action within the next two weeks.
“Great news.. this usually means a 1-2 week ramp up timeline from this point,” Jeffries wrote, reacting to the latest Luka Doncic injury update.
“He is almost at 4 weeks since the injury
“Meaning his 4-6 week recovery timeline was pretty much accurate even with the Spain trip.”
He is almost at 4 weeks since the injury
Meaning his 4-6 week recovery timeline was pretty much accurate even with the Spain trip
As Jeffries highlighted, Doncic was expected to miss four to six weeks of action when he was diagnosed with a grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2. Based on that timeline, Doncic is on pace to return within the first or second week of May.
Lakers vs Rockets Game 4
With the Lakers dropping Game 4 on Sunday, Doncic will now have more time to rehab his hamstring. Had the Lakers swept the Rockets, their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder — who are on the verge of sweeping the Phoenix Suns — would have started earlier than expected. Strangely enough, the longer the Lakers vs. Rockets series goes, the better the chances are that Doncic will return for the second round.
Despite losing on Sunday, the Lakers are still in a commanding position to beat the Rockets and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
LeBron James had one of the worst playoff games of his illustrious career on Sunday, as he finished with 10 points (2-of-9 FG), nine assists and eight turnovers. James took accountability for the loss and promised to be better for Game 5 on Wednesday.
“It started with me, obviously,” James said after the 115-96 loss.
“My turnovers were unacceptable.”
The Lakers could reportedly get Austin Reaves (oblique) back from injury for Game 5. In a perfect world, JJ Redick’s team would love to have both Reaves and Doncic catching good rhythm before an inevitable second-round clash with the Thunder.
Lakers Get ‘Great News’ on Luka Doncic After Game 4 Loss to Rockets