The injury-plagued Los Angeles Lakers received more bad news ahead of Friday’s crucial matchup against the Denver Nuggets, ruling out Luka Doncic due to left calf injury management and a right ankle sprain.
This game marks the second night of a back-to-back and the conclusion of their four-game road trip.
Doncic, who tied his season-high with 45 points in Thursday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, was unable to prevent the Lakers from suffering their third consecutive defeat. The Bucks dominated the short-handed Lakers 126-106. Another loss, combined with a Houston Rockets win over the injury-ridden Dallas Mavericks, could push the Lakers down to fifth place in the highly competitive Western Conference.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like this,” Doncic said following the loss in Milwaukee. “But at the end of the day, we’re getting paid to do this, so there shouldn’t be any excuses about being tired. You live for this. You just need to focus on recovery after every game and keep pushing forward.”
However, Doncic now requires additional recovery time.
“Our mindset is to keep going,” he added. “Missing three key players makes things difficult, but every winning team faces adversity at some point. We just have to learn from it and go into the next game with a winning mentality.”
The Lakers’ current skid began when James sustained his groin injury in Boston at the start of their road trip. He previously missed 17 games during the 2018-19 season with a similar injury, and the Lakers, who were fourth in the Western Conference at the time, struggled in his absence, going 5-12 and ultimately missing the playoffs.
This time, they hope their strong run of 20 wins in 25 games before their losing streak will provide enough of a cushion to keep them in playoff contention.
Following this brutal road trip, the Lakers return home to face another difficult stretch: back-to-back games against the Phoenix Suns (March 16) and San Antonio Spurs (March 17), followed by another set of back-to-backs against the Nuggets (March 19) and Bucks (March 20).
Lakers Need Another Big Night From Austin Reaves
With only four players from their regular rotation available, head coach JJ Redick will have to rely heavily on his bench.
Austin Reaves will need to replicate his career-high 45-point performance from the Lakers’ upset win over the Indiana Pacers last month, when both James and Doncic were sidelined, to give his team a fighting chance against the Nuggets.
Along with Reaves, Redick will depend on Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, Jordan Goodwin (two-way), and Shake Milton. The remaining available players include Christian Koloko (two-way), Markieff Morris, Alex Len, Bronny James, and Cam Reddish.
