The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets in the first round without either Luka Dončić or Austin Reaves. Now, Los Angeles is facing the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Round 2, but they dropped Game 1.
Reaves returned late in the first round, but there have been major doubts surrounding his teammate’s return. Dončić finally addressed that question himself today.
When Is Luka Dončić Coming Back?
Breaking his silence during Wednesday’s media availability, Dončić gave as straightforward an update as his situation allows.
“I’m just doing everything I can, like I said. Every day I’m doing stuff I was supposed to do. Obviously, I’m recovering now, I’m working, but as a doctor said, eight weeks at the beginning of the first MRI,” he said. “So, you know, I’m just going day by day, and I feel better every day.”
Those words will bring both relief and caution to Lakers fans. The encouraging part is that Dončić says he feels better every day and is doing everything that is medically asked of him.
The bad news is that the eight-week timeline a doctor cited after his first MRI, when applied to the April 2 injury date, puts a full recovery at late May.
With the Lakers already in the second round and the Thunder already up 1-0, that makes a return seem unlikely.
Dončić suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain on April 2 during a blowout loss to the Thunder — the same team he now has to return against in the second round. He was ruled out for the rest of the regular season shortly after and never came close to suiting up during the first-round series against Houston.
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Dončić averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game during the regular season, numbers that made him an MVP candidate prior to his devastating injury.
The Thunder swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round despite Jalen Williams missing the final three games of that series with a hamstring strain of his own. OKC head coach Mark Daigneault has the deepest rotation in the playoffs, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing some of the best basketball of his career.
If Dončić is not on the floor at some point during this series, the Lakers will have to find another level just to stay competitive. LeBron James was able to carry the Lakers past the Rockets in Round 1, but the Thunder are a different beast altogether.
