Luka Doncic Injury, Redick: “He Couldn’t Continue”
The Lakers lose Luka Doncic already in the first half against the Clippers: a contusion on his left leg stops the Slovenian and complicates an evening already marked by absences
It was a tough night for the Los Angeles Lakers, who fell 103-88 in the derby against the Clippers and lost Luka Doncic in the first half due to a contusion on his left leg.
Doncic, who entered the game as the NBA’s leading scorer with an average of 35.2 points – the highest of his career – struggled from the very beginning. In the first two quarters, he finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, shooting 4/13 from the field and 1/6 from three, with 4 turnovers. At halftime, the Lakers were already down 54-39.
JJ Redick explained the situation after the game:
I saw him limping toward the end of the first half. At halftime, he came to me and said he couldn’t continue
JJ Redick
The Lakers’ coach did not comment on recovery times, only noting that he had no further information. Doncic left the Intuit Dome without speaking to the media.
Injury Not Related to Previous Absence
According to a source close to the situation, the contusion was caused by a collision with Bogdan Bogdanovic. This is an important detail, because at the end of October Doncic had already missed three games due to a similar problem on the same leg, but the two situations do not appear to be connected.
The worst thing in sports is injuries. You can only control what you can control
LeBron James
LeBron Tries to Carry the Lakers
Despite the unfavorable circumstances, LeBron James tried to keep his team in the game. LBJ finished with 36 points, a season high, shooting 15/28 from the field, and led a comeback that brought the Lakers back to -7 in the fourth quarter after falling behind by as much as -22.
Next man up. We’re professionals and we have to be ready. It’s a tough situation, but those on the court have to perform at their best
LeBron James
In the end, it was mostly the feeling of a bad night, one of those evenings when everything goes wrong. Between injuries, forced rotations, and poor shooting percentages, the Lakers still tried to stay in the game, finding in LeBron the only true steady presence.
Now the priority is to recover players and clarity, because the schedule waits for no one, and without Luka, at least for now, the margin for error is drastically reduced.