Obviously, there was not much that could have gone worse for the Los Angeles Lakers in Oklahoma City on Thursday night. Not only was the final score a 43-point blowout, a game in which the Lakers never held a lead and were trailing by 23 points in the first quarter, but the guy who has been carrying a massive offensive load for this team–star guard Luka Doncic–went down with a hamstring injury.
A firm diagnosis on Doncic is TBD, but the Lakers are looking at starting the playoffs without Doncic in the lineup, and possibly having him out for the postseason entirely. Again, that could break either way, but if it is a bad hamstring injury, we might not see Doncic until mid-May, and that’s if the Lakers are still alive.
“At this point, at this juncture of the season, it’s the last thing you want to see,” teammate LeBron James said. “When you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury. … So, pray for the best, for sure, and a speedy recovery.”
Lakers Get ‘Spooky’ Injury
Easier said than done, of course. What’s frustrating about the injury to Doncic is that he’s been especially susceptible to this kind of soft-tissue injury to hamstrings and quads and groin in recent years, and has not been able to figure out how to limit them. His calf kept him out for a lengthy stretch last season before he was traded from Dallas to the Lakers, and though he has been mostly healthy this season until now, he did suffer a hamstring injury that cost him four games heading into the All-Star break.
Someone who can empathize with what Doncic is going through is forward Jalen Williams of the Thunder, whose right hamstring injury has given him trouble all season. Williams was guarding Doncic on the play he was injured, a coincidence Williams called, “spooky.”
Luka Doncic Gets Jalen Williams Hamstring Empathy
Here’s what Williams had to say after the Thunder dispatched the Lakers: “I feel really bad for him. It’s very spooky, in a way, to see it happen to him and I’m the one guarding him. So that was a weird play. I didn’t even want to take off—I think he had lost the ball, I could have taken off with the ball. I tried to, like, let it go out of bounce to give him time to figure it out. That injury sucks. So, I wish him a speedy recovery. I hope it is nothing serious.
“Yeah, that’s been the hardest part this season is not playing, playing, then you get into a rhythm and miss two games—I have been relatively healthy my whole entire career. But I’ve gotten to learn a lot about myself.”
Lakers & Luka Doncic Facing Uncertain Short-Term Future
The consequences of the Doncic injury could be multiple. For one thing, with 64 games on his ledger as of now, Doncic is not eligible to be named to the All-NBA teams, let alone to complete his late push toward MVP consideration.
His injury also takes away the Lakers’ engine, a guy who had been averaging 34.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.7 assists since the All-Star break this season. The Lakers have shown they can survive without fellow stars LeBron James and Austin Reaves, but the team is just 7-6 this year without Doncic, and 43-21 with him.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Lakers’ Devastating Luka Doncic Injury Was ‘Spooky’ for Thunder Star appeared first on Heavy Sports.