Luka Doncic undergoing MRI in major Lakers injury concern — just as Austin Reaves returns

LOS ANGELES — Just as the Lakers started to get closer to being whole, and Austin Reaves took a significant step in looking like his pre-injury self, the team is now waiting to see what Luka Doncic’s status will be moving forward.

Doncic had an early exit from Thursday’s 119-115 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers, limping back to the locker room late in the second quarter after grabbing the back of his left leg.

The Lakers ruled Doncic out in the third because of left leg soreness before coach JJ Redick said postgame that Doncic experienced soreness in his left hamstring and will undergo an MRI on Friday.

“He didn’t feel like it was good enough to go back in, neither did medical,” Redick said. “So, we held him out. Too early to say there’s an injury.”

Doncic appeared to suffer the injury on a drive late in the second quarter, but it wasn’t immediately clear how and when he hurt the hamstring.

He stayed in the game for a few possessions after initially grabbing his hamstring, hobbling up and down the court, before leaving the game during a timeout with close to three minutes left in the first half. 

Doncic had 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting to go with four rebounds, two assists and five turnovers in 16 minutes before subbing out with 3:03 left in the second quarter. 

He kicked the scorer’s table out of frustration on his way back to the locker room. Doncic didn’t rejoin the team on the bench during the second half.

“I don’t really know, I talked to him a little bit at halftime,” Reaves said. “I walked by him and asked him if he was OK. [He] kind of just looked at me, and I had to go play. Hopefully nothing major. We need him, He’s our best player. Hopefully we get good news [Friday], and I wish him nothing but the best.”

While Doncic was in the locker room getting his leg tended to, Reaves led the Lakers to a comeback win in their first game at Crypto.com Arena in 2 ½ weeks. 

Reaves scored all 35 points of his scoring total in the final three quarters, including 21 points in the second half, to lead the Lakers to the victory over the 76ers after they trailed by 14 points in the third quarter.

“He was unbelievable,” Redick said. “And it’s just his drives. I know he made 3s and hit a couple that were pretty incredible, but his drives and his thrust. Got to the free throw line, but just got in the paint and made plays and scored at the rim. It was great to see.”

Reaves was playing in just his second game after sitting out 19 consecutive games because of a strained left calf that sidelined him since the Christmas Day loss to the Houston Rockets. 

He made his return to the floor in Tuesday’s road win over the Brooklyn Nets, finishing with 15 points on 3-of-9 shooting (8 of 10 on free throws), four rebounds, a pair of steals and one assist in 21 minutes.

Reaves played 25 minutes Thursday, one more minute than the playing time restriction he entered the game on.

“It’s incredible,” Maxi Kleber said of Reaves. “It’s a rare talent to come in like that [and] make big shots like that. I threw him a grenade, grenade two that he made. Having just endurance and the conditioning to come back after a long injury like that and play like he did is just a rare, rare talent.”

The Lakers were optimistic that the post-trade deadline stretch would finally provide them with the opportunity to get an opportunity to see what their group would look like closer to whole. 

Thursday was just the 10th time through 50 regular-season games that Doncic, Reaves and LeBron James played in the same game.

James was sidelined for the first 14 games because of sciatica, Doncic has missed eight games for a variety of reasons and Reaves was sidelined for 22 of 24 games before Tuesday because of left calf ailments. 

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But Thursday was a reminder of what the Lakers were missing while Reaves was sidelined, and what they’ll need if Doncic is forced to miss any time.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to try to see how bad it was,” Marcus Smart said. “But we’re hoping it’s not that bad. We’re hoping he’s OK. But if he’s gonna be out, obviously it’s gonna take everybody to tighten up even more. And it does help to have AR, if that is the case. But it’s definitely gonna take a full team effort now more than ever if he is out for a long period of time.”

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