LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic will miss the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers' regular season with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, the team announced Friday.
Doncic is the NBA's top scorer and the driving force behind the Lakers' surge into the third spot in the Western Conference standings, but he injured his leg during Los Angeles' blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday. An MRI exam revealed the severity of the strain.
The Lakers (50-27)
have just five games left before the postseason, starting Sunday at Dallas.
Grade 2 hamstring strains sometimes require several weeks of recovery, but Doncic also has prior experience with hamstring issues. He missed four games right before the All-Star break with another left hamstring strain, but returned to the lineup after the break.
Doncic is putting up spectacular numbers in his first full season with the Lakers, who acquired the Slovenian superstar from the Mavericks last season. He is averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game for Los Angeles, and he was named the NBA's Western Conference player of the month for March after racking up 13 consecutive 30-point performances including seven 40-point games.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said Doncic was injured in the first half against the Thunder, but was cleared to return to the game. Doncic lasted only about four minutes before he spun, stopped and went down on the court in pain, leading to his departure.
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