Lakers Receive More Bad News on Luka Doncic’s Injury Situation
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers walks backcourt during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The injury-plagued Los Angeles Lakers faced more unfortunate news as they declared Luka Doncic out for Friday’s crucial game against the Denver Nuggets, the second part of a back-to-back set and the conclusion of their four-game road trip.
The Lakers attributed Doncic’s absence to left calf injury management and a right ankle sprain. Despite matching his season-high of 45 points on Thursday, March 13, in Milwaukee, the Lakers still fell to their third consecutive defeat.
The Bucks dominated the short-handed Lakers 126-106. Another defeat coupled with a Houston Rockets win over the injury-stricken Dallas Mavericks would see the Lakers drop to fifth place in the competitive Western Conference.
The Lakers’ injury woes extend beyond Doncic, as Gabe Vincent (left knee injury management) and Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle injury management) are doubtful, while Trey Jemison III (illness) is uncertain for the Nuggets game. They’re already missing their starting frontcourt of LeBron James (left groin strain), Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy), and Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion).
With this growing list of injuries, the Lakers are 6-point underdogs against the Nuggets at Wildz.
Three Back-to-Back Games in One Week
The Lakers face a tough situation with several key players injured during their most challenging stretch of the season, playing six games in eight days.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been through something like this,” Doncic said about the Lakers’ grueling schedule after their loss in Milwaukee. “But at the end of the day, we’re paid to do this, and there should be no excuses about being tired. We live for this. We just need great recovery after each game and keep pushing forward.”
It appears Doncic needs more recovery time than expected.
“The mindset is we have to keep going,” Doncic added. “We’re missing three key players, so it’s always tough when several starters are out. But winning teams always go through challenges, and we’re experiencing that now. We just need to learn from it and approach the next game with the mentality that we can win and we want to win.”
The Lakers’ losing streak began when James suffered a groin injury in Boston early on their road trip.
James had previously missed 17 games during the 2018-19 season due to a groin injury. At that time, the Lakers were in fourth place in the Western Conference. Without him, a young Lakers team went 5-12, ultimately missing the playoffs.
The Lakers are hoping that the cushion created by their strong performance before the losing streak, where they won 20 out of 25 games, will help them stay afloat.
After this tough road trip, the Lakers return home to face another demanding schedule: back-to-back games against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, March 16, and the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, March 17. Then they will have their third back-to-back set of games in one week against the Nuggets on March 19 and the Bucks on March 20.
Lakers Require Another Heroic Effort from Austin Reaves
Lakers head coach JJ Redick will have to dig deep into his reserves, as only four regular rotation players are available.
Austin Reaves will need to replicate his career-high 45-point performance from the Lakers’ surprise win over the Indiana Pacers last month without James and Doncic if they are to have a chance against the Nuggets.
In addition to Reaves, Redick will rely heavily on Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, Jordan Goodwin (two-way), and Shake Milton.
Other available players include Christian Koloko (two-way), Markieff Morris, Alex Len, Bronny James, and Cam Reddish.