Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic will sit out Friday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets to manage a lingering calf injury and sprained right ankle.
The superstar from Slovenia is fresh off dropping 45 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists in a loss against the Milwaukee Bucks the night before. The Lakers are 0-3 on a road trip that ends in Denver.
It has been a major struggle for the Lakers of late, already without LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Jaxson Hayes.
For the game against the Nuggets, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent are considered doubtful.
Lakers Schedule Not Helping
This is the third back-to-back set that the Lakers are playing since acquiring Doncic. He has played both ends of the back-to-back once so far.
The next pair of games for Los Angeles is also a back-to-back, against the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs. The next pair of games following that is also a back-to-back, against Denver and Milwaukee.
James could possibly return before the next back-to-back after those two sets.
The Lakers were second in the West just a week ago but that has flipped very quickly. The West is unforgiving at the best of times and they now sit fourth at 40-24, tied with the Houston Rockets in fifth at 41-25. Possibly losing home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs because of these injuries would be bitterly disappointing.
Houston plays the injury riddled Dallas Mavericks Friday night, opening the door for the fourth seed by the end of tonight.
Doncic Rounding Into Form
While Doncic struggled initially after the trade, he has been red hot in March.
Through six games this month, the 26-year-old is averaging 32.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 9.0 assists, and 2.0 steals. He’s also shooting 42.9 percent from three on 11.7 attempts per game. He shot just 24.1 percent from three in seven February games.
The Lakers know how good they can be when both Doncic and James are healthy. James is not expected back for at least another week or so. As impressive as Doncic has been lately, the Lakers haven’t had enough support around him to turn those performances into wins.
