Thursday night’s bout between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder was about a disastrous a game as possible for the purple and gold. Not only did they lose by 43 points, but Luka Doncic suffered what appeared to be a significant left hamstring injury in the third quarter, leaving LeBron James and Austin Reaves without their co-star.
It’s currently unclear how much time, if any, Doncic will miss. That depends on the results of an MRI he’s having on Friday. James, though, will be one of the people tasked with keeping the team together in his potential absence.
“Nothing has changed,” James said on Spectrum SportsNet. “We’ll obviously be tested with the head of the snake out. Don’t want to make conclusions, but we’ll see what happens with him and then we’ll go from there. But nothing is rattled. It’s one game, part of the NBA season. It’s the defending champions, we get it, we understand.”
Doncic being out means everyone will have to adjust and take on a bigger role. James could be one of the people asked to do the most without Doncic, and he’s well aware of that, even if specific conversations haven’t happened.
“I don’t know what role will be asked of me. I don’t know. We’ll have to see what that role will be,” he said. “I’ve been in this one for a minute now, so it will be an adjustment. So we’ll see.”
James reiterated the importance of health and emphasized the week off the Lakers have already clinched between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.
“There’s never a time to get comfortable in this league. The only thing we do know is we won’t be in the Play-In, so we have that week. But health is wealth, obviously. We’re already without Marcus right now, and now Luka, we don’t know what the timetable is obviously. But we’ll see what happens.”
The Lakers — and the entire fanbase — are waiting anxiously for the results of Doncic’s MRI. If he needs to miss time, and how much time that is, directly correlates with L.A.’s ability to contend this season. In the meantime, preparations need to be made for the game plan if Doncic does miss significant time.
Marcus Smart nearing return
It won’t completely make up for losing Doncic, but the Lakers are preparing for a major return to the lineup with Marcus Smart. L.A.’s best perimeter player and one of their emotional leaders has been out six games now, and looks to be nearing a return.
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