Luka Doncic Injury Update Brings Bad News for Lakers' Playoff Run
Luka Doncic's return to the court remains uncertain as he continues to recover from a Grade 2 left hamstring strain suffered in early April. The Los Angeles Lakers, despite advancing past the first round, now face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder without Doncic available for the start of the series. Oklahoma City, led by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, swept their first-round opponent and are strong favorites to advance again.
- ▪Luka Doncic is still recovering from a Grade 2 left hamstring strain sustained on April 2.
- ▪NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Doncic is not yet participating in full contact workouts.
- ▪Austin Reaves returned for the final two games of the Lakers' first-round series against the Houston Rockets.
- ▪The Lakers defeated the Rockets 4-2 in the first round, aided by LeBron James' strong performances.
- ▪Oklahoma City swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round and won all four regular-season matchups against the Lakers.
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By Matthew CoudenContributing WriterShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberSee more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.When the Los Angeles Lakers headed into a first-round series against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets, they were considered underdogs due to injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.However, Durant missed multiple games due to injuries, and the Lakers still had superstar LeBron James, who, at 41, helped power his team to a first-round 4-2 win. Ahead of this series, there was talk that the Lakers needed to extend their postseason as long as possible to allow Luka and Reaves to recover.Reaves returned for the final two games of the first round and contributed in both games.
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