The Los Angeles Lakers have a very tall task in front of them as the NBA playoffs are set to begin. The team is without their two leading scorers in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as they prepare to take on the Houston Rockets in the first round.
Doncic is dealing with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain while Reaves suffered a Grade 2 left oblique strain and the question is whether either will be able to return for the Lakers in the postseason. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, neither is expected to be back to start the playoffs, but Doncic would seem to be more likely to return first:
“The expectation around the Lakers is both will be out to start the first round this weekend,” Charania reported on the Pat McAfee Show. “They’re playing the first round with basically LeBron James as their number one option… Luka Doncic, he spent the last week in Spain, from my understanding, the majority of the time in Spain. He underwent multiple injection treatments in that hamstring to see if he can promote quick healing, can he promote an expedited return in a lot of ways for him to be back. My understanding is he’ll be back in the States on Tuesday and then they’re going to re-evaluate him. Austin Reaves, he’s out for a majority of this first-round series. Most likely probably the earliest for him is gonna be that first week of May, so they have a tall task now facing Houston in that first round.”
Charania later clarified that Doncic will rejoin the team on Friday of this week ahead of their Game 1 matchup on Saturday.
It’s unfortunate news for the Lakers, but also expected. Both are doing everything they can to get back for the playoffs, but Grade 2 strains are very difficult to deal with and there is no guarantee that either will be able to heal enough in order to make a return to the court, not to mention the risk it could be to rush them back.
Hopefully, there will be some good news following the re-evaluation of Doncic, but it will be up to the rest of the Lakers to hang with the Rockets and extend the series long enough to make for a possibility of one or both of the Doncic-Reaves duo to make it back to the court.
Lakers’ LeBron James excited for the 2026 NBA Playoffs
With both Reaves and Doncic out, LeBron James will be the player to lead the Lakers into the postseason. And despite just finishing his 23rd NBA season, James is excited about the upcoming playoffs.
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