Luka Doncic left Saturday night’s 103-88 defeat to the LA Clippers at the Intuit Dome with a left leg contusion and did not return, the Los Angeles Lakers said.
The league’s leading scorer entered the game averaging 35.2 points, 9.1 assists, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals, but managed only 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting before departing. Head coach JJ Redick told reporters that Doncic “came to me at halftime and said he couldn’t go.” Doncic exited the arena without speaking to the media, and Redick offered no timetable for his return.
A source familiar with the situation said the injury resulted from a first-half collision with Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic. Doncic had missed three games in late October with a lower left leg contusion, though Saturday’s setback was described as unrelated.
Los Angeles was already without starters Austin Reaves (left calf), Deandre Ayton (left elbow) and Rui Hachimura (right groin). Rookie Dalton Knecht opened the second half in Doncic’s place.
LeBron James posted a season-high 36 points on 15-for-28 shooting and trimmed a 22-point third-quarter deficit to seven early in the fourth, but the Lakers could get no closer. The rest of the roster combined to go 19-for-60 from the field and 3-for-31 from beyond the arc.
“We just didn’t hit shots tonight,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “Tough to win basketball games like that. I thought we played really, really hard, but shots just were not falling.”
Redick said Reaves and Ayton could be available for Tuesday’s road game against the Phoenix Suns and added that Hachimura might miss only three to five days. The loss dropped the Lakers to 19-8, fourth in the Western Conference. After visiting Phoenix, they return home to face the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day.
“The worst thing about sports is injuries,” James said. “Whatever we have in uniform, we have to go out and execute.”
Source: ESPN
