The Los Angeles Lakers were already down three starters — Rui Hachimura (groin), Deandre Ayton (elbow) and Austin Reaves (calf strain) — entering Saturday’s clash against the LA Clippers. In an unfortunate development, the game ended with the Purple & Gold losing their best player, Luka Doncic, as well.
The Slovenian star suffered a left leg contusion during the first half of the game and did not return for the second period. There was no indication he was hurt after Doncic logged 20 minutes in the first half, as fans and the media were surprised when he did not return to the court for the final 24 minutes. However, Lakers head coach JJ Redick revealed after the game that Doncic got hurt at some point in the second quarter.
“I saw him hobbling towards the end of the first half. He came to me at halftime and said he couldn’t go,” Redick revealed after the Lakers suffered a 103-88 loss, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The second-year head coach added that he had “no other information” on the Luka Doncic injury and was awaiting further word from the Lakers medical staff.
Luka Doncic Injury Update
It’s worth noting that Doncic missed three games in late October with a lower left leg contusion. However, the two injuries are not related, with a source telling ESPN that Sunday’s injury occurred when he collided with Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Doncic finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists in the first half, which ended with the Lakers trailing their intercity rivals by a margin of 54-39. The five-time All-Star shot a meagre 4-of-13 from the field and committed four turnovers before checking out of the game, suggesting that he may have been playing through an injury.
LeBron James, who led the Lakers with 36 points, urged his teammates to step it up in the absence of Doncic.
“No matter what the circumstances are, it’s still next man up,” James said after the Lakers had their two-game winning streak snapped. “We’re all professionals. We all got to stay ready. So, obviously it’s very challenging circumstances for our ball club tonight, but I think we played extremely hard, we followed our keys. We just came up short.”
Lakers Injury Woes Continue
“The worst thing about sports is injuries,” James added. “And not just basketball, but sports in general. You control the controllables, but what we have out there, whoever is in uniform, we have to go out and execute at the utmost pace that we can and on the other end, we got to defend on a string and help each other out.”
James, who shot 15-of-28 from the floor and 3-of-7 from three, was relatively efficient when compared to his Lakers teammates on Sunday. As a team, the Lakers shot a paltry 34-of-88 from the field (39%) and 6-of-38 from three (16%) — both season lows. Their 88 points were also a season-low mark.
“We just didn’t hit shots tonight,” Lakers wing Jake LaRavia said after the loss.
“I mean, that’s really what it was. We were 6-for-38 from 3 [as a team], we missed seven free throws. Tough to win basketball games like that. I thought we played really, really hard. But yeah, shots just were not falling.”
The Lakers (19-8) will next face the Phoenix Suns in an away game on Tuesday night. They could potentially get Ayton and Reaves back for the game, but Gabe Vincent (back), Doncic and Hachimura are expected to be out for a little while longer.
Lakers Hit With Devastating Luka Doncic Injury Blow in Loss to Clippers