Luka sidelined, Lakers survive

Luka Dončić’s season changed on April 3, when the Lakers said an magnetic resonance imaging scan found a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring and ruled him out through the regular season. (espn.com) The injury happened one night earlier, during a 139-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2. Dončić, the league’s leading scorer, left that game after hurting his left leg. (espn.com) A Grade 2 hamstring strain is a partial muscle tear, not simple soreness. Sports medicine guidance cited by multiple reports puts the average absence around five weeks, which pushes Dončić’s recovery into the start of the playoffs. (sports.yahoo.com) The calendar is the problem for Los Angeles. The National Basketball Association play-in tournament runs April 14 through April 17, and the first round of the playoffs starts April 18. (nba.com) The Lakers have stayed afloat without him. On April 10, LeBron James had 28 points and 12 assists in a 101-73 win over Phoenix that clinched home-court advantage in the first round. (espn.com) That result guaranteed Los Angeles a playoff series in its own building even with Dončić sidelined and Austin Reaves also dealing with injuries. Entering the regular-season finale on April 12, the Lakers were 52-29 and still sorting out whether they would finish No. 3 or No. 4 in the Western Conference. (sports.yahoo.com) Dončić has tried to speed up the timeline. Reports this week said he traveled to Spain for specialized treatment on the hamstring while the Lakers finished the schedule without him. (msn.com) Before the injury, Dončić had played 64 games and was averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds. Those numbers explain why the Lakers’ postseason ceiling now depends on whether a muscle injury that usually needs weeks, not days, settles down in time for April 18. (sports.yahoo.com)