Jason Burgos
We have bad news for Los Angeles Lakers fans hoping that Luka Doncic could return for their semifinal series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers stunned many around the NBA when they were able to overcome injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and defeat the Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. However, they have an even bigger hill to climb in the semis against the defending champion Thunder.
Unlike the previous round, the Lakers will have Reaves available from the start. That is a big boost for a team that can use all the help it can get against a team they went 0-5 against and lost by an average of 29 points this season. If they have any chance of another huge upset, they need their MVP candidate, Doncic, back on the court.
However, it looks like that isn’t happening in this series. During a media scrum on Wednesday, the six-time All-Star revealed that when he was originally diagnosed with his Grade 2 hamstring injury, doctors told him he would need eight weeks to recover. That would mean a return wouldn’t come until during the Western Conference Finals.
The five-time All-NBA player spoke about getting platelet-rich plasma treatment in Spain recently and is hopeful the procedure can expedite his recovery. He has also started running. However, he has not had any contact work yet.
Oklahoma City’s dominance of the Lakers continued on Tuesday when they posted a 108-90 win in Game 1 of their series.
