Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic is coming off one of the best stretches of his career and was rightfully named the Western Conference Player of the Month for March.
Doncic led the Lakers to a 15-2 record last month, with most of their wins coming against playoff-caliber teams. He looked like a man on a mission, scoring the basketball almost at will and making a strong case for MVP. However, Doncic was forced out of Los Angeles’ blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a hamstring injury.
“We’ll do an MRI [Friday], left hamstring,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said on Spectrum SportsNet. “We’ll know more tomorrow.”
Redick added that Doncic was cleared to play in the second half despite experiencing some hamstring discomfort in the first half.
“We checked him out. He got work done, but he was cleared. We’re not gonna put a player at risk. Those things happen,” Redick said.
Redick also admitted that there were discussions to sit Austin Reaves and Doncic for the second half given the deficit and them being banged up.
“It was discussed at halftime,” he revealed. “Thought we’d give those guys about six minutes and if we didn’t cut into the lead we were gonna pull them. Obviously it was around that time, I don’t remember the exact time, [the injury] happened.”
Los Angeles wound up losing 139-96 to Oklahoma City, but it almost didn’t matter given Doncic’s injury. The Lakers’ championship hopes hinge on Doncic being available and at his best, but now there’s a serious possibility that he’ll be forced to miss extended time.
To add insult to injury, Doncic is on the cusp of being eligible for end-of-season awards so if he’s forced to miss the remainder of the regular season he wouldn’t qualify. That would be a cruel outcome for the Lakers star who worked tirelessly this past offseason to get into the best shape of his life.
Los Angeles should be able to survive in the short-term without Doncic, but this drastically changes their postseason odds. Hamstring injuries are highly susceptible to re-aggravation, so the Lakers can’t afford to rush their superstar back even if the playoffs begin.
Hopefully, the MRI reveals nothing serious and Doncic can come back sooner than later. Losing Doncic to injury this close to the playoffs is a gut punch, but all the franchise can do is pray that he returns at full strength.
JJ Redick believes Luka Doncic should be NBA MVP
Redick has been advocate for Doncic to win his first MVP award given what he’s meant to the Lakers’ success. Redick doubled down on his support for Doncic, saying he should be MVP if Los Angeles finishes the season strong.
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