The Los Angeles Lakers will have to face the NBA’s top overall seed without their leading scorer Tuesday, as they ruled out Luka Doncic for Game 1 of their second-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
Earlier in the day, coach JJ Redick had declined to provide an update on his superstar, before the Lakers listed Doncic as out on their status report Monday evening.
A left hamstring strain, suffered in a 139-96 setback to these same Thunder, has held the 33.5 points per game scorer out of these playoffs to date. Despite that, the fourth-seeded Lakers (53-29) defeated the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets 4-2 in their first-round series without Doncic.
The Thunder rolled to the league’s best record at 64-18 in the regular season before beginning their playoff run with a 4-0 sweep of the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers have gone 0-4 against the Thunder this season, with just one loss coming by less than double digits.
Doncic’s status is in keeping with recent reporting on the matter. On Sunday, ESPN termed Doncic to be on a “slow path” in his recovery, with no return yet to full-contact workouts while being considered week-to-week.
A six-time All-Star and two-time scoring champion, Doncic also averaged 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game in 2025-26, his first full season in Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media
