The Los Angeles Lakers enter their series against the Houston Rockets without two of their best scorers, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, but the team was still able to take Game 1 with a strong 107-98 final score.
While reports indicate that both players are on the mend and may be able to return to the court soon, it’s good news for the Lakers that they were able to pull off a win even without these starters.
Of course, it helps that the Houston Rockets were without their star, Kevin Durant, but it still says a lot that the Los Angeles Lakers had as strong a showing as they did in Game 1 without Doncic and Reaves. They’re the underdogs in this series, so that performance said something to the critics. Now, ahead of Game 2, the NBA has made a special announcement about Luka Doncic, and it shows why he needs to get back on the court asap.
NBA Announces Luka Doncic News as Los Angeles Lakers Head Into Series Against Houston Rockets
On Monday, April 20, the NBA took to social media to announce the top six highest career averages for points per game in the playoffs, among players who have played a minimum of 10 playoff games.
Michael Jordan is No. 1 at 33.4 points, according to their research, meaning that for his full postseason career, he averaged 33.4 points per games he played in the postseason.
Guess who was at No. 2? It was Doncic at 30.9 points. He’s so close to Jordan’s record, and getting back on the court would help him get there. Allen Iverson, Kevin Durant, Jerry West and Donovan Mitchell were also on the tally.
Seeing Doncic already at No. 2 shows you how insane, in a good way, he is when it comes to early postseason scoring. He plays with a consistency in the postseason that the Lakers could absolutely use right now.
While Doncic isn’t expected to appear in the Lakers’ Game 2, he’s projected to possibly be healthy enough to return again by the end of the series. While the Lakers have not revealed a specific injury timeline, it wouldn’t be a surprise either way if Doncic were to play at the end of the first round of not at all.
Houston Rockets Still Favorites Over Los Angeles Lakers in Series
The Houston Rockets have largely been favorites to take this series against the Lakers. In a Monday, April 20 feature for SI, Maanav Gupta lays out why the Rockets, he believes, have the edge.
“The Rockets have been one of the better defensive teams in the league, and I expect the Lakers to deal with challenges offensively against them,” he states in the piece. “Houston’s rebounding is also significantly better, and that is a huge reason that tilts the scales.”
Sure, everyone’s leaning to Houston Rockets, which is exactly why the Los Angeles Lakers get interesting. The playoff series doesn’t always reward the deeper, younger team. It rewards the team that knows how to carry itself in the postseason. That’s where the Lakers come in.
LeBron James still treats these games like a scouting report you can’t fake, and he knows how to lead a team to the finals. Plus, if there’s even a chance that Doncic gets back by the end of the series, it’s safe to say Los Angeles will be spoilers.
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