Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (L) will miss the remainder of the regular season due to a left hamstring strain, but is eyeing a return for the playoffs. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA
Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Doncic will undergo treatment on his injured left hamstring in Europe in an effort to expedite recovery.
Sources told ESPN, The Athletic and the Los Angeles Times that Doncic flew to Europe on Sunday to begin the treatment. Doncic, who has been ruled out for the regular season, sustained the Grade 2 hamstring strain during a 139-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
The Lakers did not provide a timeline for Doncic’s potential return when they revealed the results of his MRI on Friday. Grade 2 strains typically require a recovery of about a month. The NBA playoffs will be start April 18, with the NBA Finals set for a June 3 tip off.
The Slovenian was the engine for a hot streak in March, when he averaged 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game en route to Western Conference Player of the Month honors.
The Lakers (50-28) sat in third place in the conference standings, one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets, at the time of Doncic’s injury. They suffered a 134-128 setback to the Dallas Mavericks in their first game since Doncic’s injury on Sunday in Dallas. The loss — paired with a Nuggets win on Saturday — dropped them into a tie for third place in the conference.
Doncic remains the NBA leader in points per game, with 33.5 this season. He is ineligible for end-of-season awards, including MVP and All-NBA teams, because he appeared in just 64 games this season, one fewer than the threshold required for eligibility for the honors.
The Lakers also announced that guard Austin Reaves will miss the remainder of the regular season due to a Grade 2 left oblique injury. Reaves also sustained his injury during Thursday’s loss to the Thunder. The Lakers did not disclose a potential timeline for return for Reaves.
Reaves averaged a career-high 23.3 points, with 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game through 51 appearances this season. He is the Lakers’ second-leading scorer, behind Doncic and ahead of forward LeBron James (20.6).
James led the Lakers with 30 points in Sunday’s loss to the Mavericks. Guard Luke Kennard, who made just his second start of the season, recorded his first career triple-double, with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists for the Lakers.
Fellow Lakers guard Jake LaRavia chipped in 14 points in his 40th start of the season. Lakers forward Rui Hachimura scored 21 points. Center Deandre Ayton recorded 13 points in the loss. Center/forward Jaxson Hayes chipped in 23 points off the Lakers bench.
The Nuggets (50-28) will host the Portland Trail Blazers (40-38) at 9 p.m. EDT Monday in Denver, where they have a chance to overtake the Lakers in the standings.
The Lakers own record tiebreakers against the Nuggets, fifth-place Houston Rockets (49-29) and sixth-place Minnesota Timberwolves (46-32). They will host the NBA-best Thunder (62-16) at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in Los Angeles. Their other upcoming meetings will be with the 10th-place Golden State Warriors (36-42), seventh-place Phoenix Suns (43-35) and last-place Utah Jazz (21-58).
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LeBron James when he was a high school senior playing basketball at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio, on February 14, 2003. James signed his first NBA contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers that same year. Photo by Tom Cammett/UPI | License Photo
