LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic is day-to-day for the Los Angeles Lakers because of a mild hamstring strain, putting his availability for the All-Star Game next weekend in question, while Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is trending toward missing that contest and the games leading up to it because of a knee injury.
The status of the two superstars were addressed ahead of the marquee game between the Warriors and Lakers on Saturday night, with
Los Angeles coach JJ Redick indicating the MRI taken after Doncic was hurt in a win over Philadelphia on Thursday showed no significant injury.
The Lakers have three more home games prior to the All-Star break after Saturday, and Redick indicated Doncic would like to be available so he could play in his sixth career All-Star game.
“I’ve been around him as a teammate and as a coach, and I know he plays,” Redick said. “If he’s able to play, he plays. I think he wants to be in the All-Star Game. I know he wants to play against Dallas the game before the All-Star Game. He has his team working on him day and night, so again, it’s day-to-day. When he’s ready to play, we’ll get him out there.”
Doncic is averaging a league-leading 32.8 points. He's second in assists at 8.6, while also ranking in the top 25 in rebounds (7.8), as the 26-year-old Slovenian combo guard pushes for his first Most Valuable Player award.
Doncic was the Western Conference player of the month for January after he averaged 34.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 9.1 assists. He was also chosen as a starter for the U.S. vs. the World-formatted All-Star Game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Feb. 15.
While the Lakers maintained optimism about Doncic’s status, Warriors coach Steve Kerr sounded a pessimistic note about Curry’s chances of appearing in his 12th All-Star Game, already calling him doubtful to play against Memphis on Tuesday because of his right knee injury. The home game against the Grizzlies will be one of two remaining games after Saturday for Golden State before the annual exhibition.
“I think there’s a good chance that he doesn’t play ’til after the break,” Kerr said. “But we’re just going to take it day by day.”
Curry is averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 assists in his 17th NBA season. He missed a Jan. 26 loss to Minnesota because of the knee injury, then played reduced minutes in the next two games, and has now missed three straight games when the Warriors face the Lakers.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
