Dončić Suffers Hamstring Injury In OKC Thunder Blowout Victory

Just when Lakers fans thought things couldn’t get any worse after a horrid opening quarter against the OKC Thunder last night…they did. Much, much worse. Trailing 44-21 after the first twelve minutes, LA entered the break down thirty-one points. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that, with the way the team, especially Luka Dončić, has been playing as of late, a second-half comeback would be possible (or at least to bring the game to within a respectable score). 

However, the third quarter proved to be an absolute nightmare for the Lakers. Already trailing by 38 midway through the quarter, which should have been a giant red flag to JJ Redick to pull the plug, Dončić was driving to the left side elbow when a double team stopped him. Dončić immediately reached down to grab his left hamstring. After reportedly tweaking it late in the first half and being medically cleared to return, this second flare-up was the breaking point. Able to hobble to the baseline, Dončić lay on the court until the training staff and teammates came to his aid before heading to the locker room. 

With the team and Dončić playing their best basketball of the season, the injury, a familiar one for Dončić, is worrisome. This is the same hamstring injury that sidelined the star guard for several games back in February. The issue with this type of injury is that each occurrence can lead to something more serious. While there are times in which a player feels fine and ready to return to play, a simple jab step or push off can easily trigger another reaggravation. 

For the Lakers, the timing could not be worse. Led by Dončić’s 37.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 7.4 assists during March, LA finished with a 15-2 record, helping to take over third place in the Western Conference standings. Now, with just five games remaining in the regular season and playoffs two weeks away, multiple questions come up. Will Dončić return for the regular season? Will he be ready for the playoffs, and if so, what round? Will he be anything close to the player who had just dropped 40 points in three straight games?  Where will the Lakers finish in the standings as the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets are just a couple of games behind? 

Holding a 7-6 record without Dončić this season gives the Lakers a little bit of hope, at least enough to finish the remaining five-game schedule, but playoffs are an entirely different story. Can a 41-year-old LeBron James dial back time to carry the team in Dončić’s absence? Can Austin Reaves, who has been battling his own injuries, take his game to yet another level? 

To stick the knife in even further, Thursday was Dončić’s 64th game of the season, one short of the required 65-game mark set by the NBA for MVP and All-NBA eligibility. While it would be a long shot to win MVP over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, it seemed as though Dončić was an easy candidate for a spot on an All-NBA team and a lock for the scoring title. 

In a season that had brought so much hope, one simple move in a late-season blowout game could bring all of it to an unfortunate end.