New details on the status of Luka Doncic as round two is set to begin.
The Los Angeles Angeles Lakers will begin their second round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.
The Lakers managed to get past the Houston Rockets in the first round despite missing Austin Reaves for the first four games and Luka Doncic for the entire series. The Rockets were missing Kevin Durant for five of the six games.
With Doncic absent from the series, LeBron James, who continues to fight off Father Time, stepped up and averaged 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 8.3 assists.
The team also got depth contributions from the likes of Marcus Smart, who played hounding defense and acted as a secondary ball-handler, Rui Hachimura, who was a secondary scorer and excellent from three, Luke Kennard, and Deandre Ayton.
An Update on Luka Doncic
Luka has been sidelined since April 2, when he suffered a hamstring injury against the Thunder. In the middle of the third quarter, Luka pulled up limp and was ultimately removed from the game. He has not been back on the court since.
On Sunday, ESPN's Shams Charnia said about Luka, "He will be out to start the series against the Thunder. The Lakers are evaluating Doncic on a week-to-week basis."
Shams continued that it was a "slow path to recovery" and that he still isn't doing full-fledged running or workouts.
The Lakers have not given any official update on the status of Doncic.
The series between the Lakers and Thunder could go all the way to May 18 if there is a Game 7. The earliest it could end is May 11, which is the day of game four.
Luka vs. OKC
While the Lakers were able to get past the Rockets without Luka, the Oklahoma City Thunder are a different beast, and one that Luka didn't have much success against during the regular season.
Luka played two games against the Thunder during the regular season, and neither went well for him or the Lakers. On November 12, the Lakers lost 121-92. In the April 2 game, where Luka was injured, they lost 139-96, but the damage had been done before Luka left the game.
In the two games, Luka averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and seven assists. He shot 33% from the field and 14% from three.
He did have success against the Thunder in 2024 playoffs as a member of the Dallas Mavericks when the Mavs eliminated the Thunder in six games, but those were two completely different teams.