Just as the Lakers were getting healthy, they were dealt another huge blow on Thursday.
Late in the first half against the Sixers, Luka Dončić came up limp and went to the locker room. While it was only for a brief moment, Luka grabbed the back of his left leg. He would hobble around the court for a couple of possessions before a timeout was called and he went straight to the locker room.
To start the second half, Luka remained in the locker room and did not start with Rui Hachimura replacing him in the starting lineup. Eventually, he was ruled out midway through the third period with left leg soreness. After initially suffering the injury, Luka grabbed in the area of his hamstring, but it’s unclear if that’s the injury.
After the game, head coach JJ Redick had little in terms of an update on Luka, only noting that it was indeed a hamstring injury.
“He felt some soreness in his hamstring,” Redick said. “So, he didn’t feel like it was good enough to go back in. Neither did medical. So we held him out. He’ll get some imaging. Too early to say.”
While there’s never a good time to suffer an injury, it’s a real inopportune time with Austin Reaves only just getting back from his own month-long absence with a calf strain. While it does mean Austin can carry the load once his minutes restriction is lifted, it also means the Lakers will again not have their Big 3 healthy.
Counting Thursday’s contest, the trio of played just 10 games together. That figure includes the Christmas Day game when Austin left at halftime with an injury and Luka leaving at halftime against the Sixers.
For now, we have no indication of how long Luka will be out, but with the All-Star break looming, it could offer a chance for him to get healthy, especially with festivities taking part in Los Angeles and no travel required.
