Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic is with the team in Dallas for two days. He will get an MRI on Friday for a hamstring injury prior to Sunday's game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Luka Doncic left Thursday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the middle of the third quarter after suffering an apparent hamstring injury while driving downhill against OKC's Jalen Williams.
The Thunder blew out the Lakers 139-96 - LA's sixth-largest margin of defeat in franchise history. The sorrow for LA rests not in the loss itself, but in Doncic's status for the end of the regular season and beyond.
The Lakers are now in Dallas for two days leading up to their Easter Sunday matchup with the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Los Angeles coach J.J. Redick says Doncic will undergo an MRI on Friday to assess the extent of the injury.
Doncic finished Thursday's game scoring 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting with four rebounds and seven assists in 26 minutes. He is in the midst of a race for the MVP award with last year's winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of OKC, San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama, Denver superstar Nikola Jokic and Boston All-Star Jaylen Brown.
Entering the game against Oklahoma City, the Lakers had won 13 of their last 14 games, and Doncic had posted at least 40 points in five of his previous seven outings.
ESPN's Tim Bontempts notes that if Doncic were to miss the Lakers' final five games of the regular season, he would fall short of the 65-game minimum that qualifies players for end-of-season awards. All-Star guard Anthony Edwards was the latest victim to the rule as he missed the Minnesota Timberwolves' game on Friday. It appears Doncic, a sure-fire lock for First Team All-NBA, could be next if he does not make a speedy recovery.
Last season, when Doncic missed a handful of games due to a calf strain and dealt with his unprecedented trade from the Mavs to the Lakers, he was also ineligible for these awards.
Jokic and Wembanyama are both sitting at 61 games played, meaning they will need to finish the regular season on the court despite their teams already clinching playoff berths.
Doncic is averaging an NBA-best 33.5 points per game, while also recording 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists a night. His Lakers are one game ahead of the Nuggets for third in the Western Conference standings.
