“It’s been like…..I missed a lot of time. Never missed as much time. So, it’s something new to me. But I was just excited to get back to play” said Luka Doncic in the aftermath of the Lakers’ recent close loss against the Charlotte Hornets. It is no secret that the LA franchise’s newest acquisition hasn’t been performing on the same level as he did with the Dallas Mavericks. After all, not only is he adjusting to a new team and playing style, his recent games marked a fresh start after Luka was sidelined for 47 days due to a calf injury. Therefore, as he revealed, he wanted to get back into a proper routine so that both him and his new NBA team can benefit from his availability. Unfortunately, the Slovenian has not left his Injury troubles far behind yet.
According to a report by Underdog NBA, the Lakers starting lineup, for the upcoming game against the Portland Trail Blazers, will not feature Luka Doncic at all! Instead, the starting five will be Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Jaxson Hayes. According to RotoWire, Luka has been ruled out due to injury management of his left calf. After all, having freshly recovered from the ailment, officials would not want the Slovenian to play back-to-back games and affect the recovery process.
Lineup alert: Lakers will start Reaves, Finney-Smith, Hachimura, LeBron, Hayes on Thursday.
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) February 21, 2025
This is a developing story.
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