NBA: Lakers’ Doncic sparks injury fears after exit in Clippers loss
The Slovenian had a knee problem that prevented him from continuing
Luka Doncic suffered a left leg contusion during the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-88 defeat to the LA Clippers on Saturday and did not return after halftime.
The Lakers star entered the game leading the NBA in scoring at a career-high 35.2 points per game, alongside averages of 9.1 assists, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals.
He endured a difficult first half against the Clippers, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-6 from three-point range, while adding five rebounds, two assists and four turnovers. Los Angeles trailed 54-39 at the interval.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick said Doncic was unable to continue after sustaining the injury before halftime.
“I saw him hobbling towards the end of the first half. He came to me at halftime and said he couldn’t go,” Redick said.
Doncic left the Intuit Dome without speaking to reporters, and Redick said he did not yet have clarity on the severity of the injury or a timeline for his return.
“I don’t have any other information,” he said.
While Doncic missed three games in late October with a lower left leg contusion, the two incidents are believed to be unrelated.
The Lakers were already without three starters, with Austin Reaves sidelined by a left calf issue, Deandre Ayton out with a left elbow injury and Rui Hachimura missing the game due to a right groin problem.
LeBron James said the team had to adapt despite the mounting absences.
“No matter what the circumstances are, it’s still next man up,” James said. “We’re all professionals. We all got to stay ready.
“So, obviously it’s very challenging circumstances for our ball club tonight, but I think we played extremely hard, we followed our keys. We just came up short.”
James scored a season-high 36 points on 15-of-28 shooting as the Lakers briefly reduced a 22-point third-quarter deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter before fading late on.
Los Angeles struggled offensively outside of James, shooting 19-of-60 overall and just 3-of-31 from three-point range.
“We just didn’t hit shots tonight,” Lakers forward Jake LaRavia said. “I mean, that’s really what it was. We were 6-for-38 from 3 as a team, we missed seven free throws.
“Tough to win basketball games like that. I thought we played really, really hard. But yeah, shots just were not falling.”
Redick said he was hopeful Reaves and Ayton could return for Tuesday’s road game against the Phoenix Suns, while Hachimura is expected to miss between three and five days.
The loss drops the Lakers to 19-8, fourth in the Western Conference. They face Phoenix next before hosting the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day.
“The worst thing about sports is injuries,” James said. “You control the controllables, but what we have out there, whoever is in uniform, we have to go out and execute at the utmost pace that we can and on the other end, we got to defend on a string and help each other out.”