{"id":697132,"date":"2026-04-04T03:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/697132\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T03:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:37:24","slug":"luka-doncic-out-for-remainder-of-regular-season-with-left-hamstring-strain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/697132\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka Don\u010di\u0107 out for remainder of regular season with left hamstring strain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Luka Don\u010di\u0107 injured his left hamstring during L.A.\u2019s 139-96 loss in Oklahoma City on Thursday.<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Luka Don\u010di\u0107 will miss the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 regular season with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, the team announced Friday.<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 is the NBA\u2019s top scorer and the driving force behind the Lakers\u2019 surge into the third spot in the Western Conference standings, but he injured his leg during Los Angeles\u2019 blowout loss in Oklahoma City on Thursday. An MRI exam revealed the severity of the strain.<\/p>\n

The Pacific Division champion Lakers (50-27) have just five games left before the postseason, starting Sunday at Dallas.<\/p>\n

Grade 2 hamstring strains sometimes require several weeks of recovery, but Don\u010di\u0107 also has prior experience with hamstring issues. He missed four games right before the All-Star break with another left hamstring strain, but returned to the lineup after the break.<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 is putting up spectacular numbers in his first full season with the Lakers, who acquired the Slovenian superstar from the Mavericks last season. He is averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game for Los Angeles, and he was named the NBA\u2019s Western Conference player of the month for March after racking up 13 consecutive 30-point performances, including seven 40-point games, a 51-point barrage against Chicago and a 60-point masterclass in Miami.<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 scored a whopping 600 points in March, becoming only the 10th player in NBA history to hit that mark in one month. While LeBron James and Austin Reaves have also played well down the stretch, the Lakers thoroughly depend on Don\u010di\u0107, who either scored or assisted on 58% of the their total points in March.<\/p>\n

Don\u010di\u0107 is all but certain to win his second NBA scoring title \u2014 but he has played in only 64 games this season, which means he will finish one game shy of the 65-game threshold to be eligible for the NBA\u2019s biggest postseason awards.<\/p>\n

His agent, Bill Duffy, issued a statement that they will appeal the rule by filing an \u2018Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge.\u2019<\/p>\n

Statement from Luka Doncic\u2019s agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball: “This season, Luka Don\u010di\u0107 has performed at a historic level, leading the league in scoring, carrying the Lakers to third place in the Western Conference and placing himself in the middle of one of the most tightly\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/bKVOmzheDE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

He was a lock to be an All-NBA selection, and he had even been making a late run at consideration for the MVP award with his outstanding play down the stretch.<\/p>\n

Along with his two absences caused by hamstring injuries and a handful of additional absences for minor medical maintenance early in the season, Don\u010di\u0107 missed two games last December while flying to Slovenia for the birth of his second child. He also missed one game last week under suspension for accumulating 16 technical fouls.<\/p>\n

Since he sits just shy of the 65-game threshold, Don\u010di\u0107 theoretically could challenge the rule by citing the extraordinary circumstances of his daughter\u2019s birth in Europe through the grievance process created for these collectively bargained rules. It\u2019s wholly unclear whether that appeal would have any chance of success.<\/p>\n

If Don\u010di\u0107 wins the scoring title but doesn\u2019t make the All-NBA teams, he would be only the third scoring champ in league history to fail to do so. Elvin Hayes wasn\u2019t selected when he won the crown as a rookie in 1969, and Bob McAdoo wasn\u2019t chosen for the teams in 1976.<\/p>\n

Lakers coach JJ Redick said Don\u010di\u0107 was injured in the first half against the Thunder, but was cleared to return to the game while his team was getting plastered by the defending NBA champion Thunder. Don\u010di\u0107 lasted only about four minutes before he spun, stopped and went down on the court in pain, leading to his departure.<\/p>\n

The loss was only the Lakers\u2019 third in 19 games since Feb. 26, but Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s absence casts a cloud of uncertainty over the rest of their year. Los Angeles only leads fourth-place Denver (49-28) by one game, while sixth-place Minnesota (46-30) is 3 1\/2 games back with a game in hand.<\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 regular-season finale is next Sunday, April 12, at home against Utah. Their first-round playoff series is expected to start the following weekend.<\/p>\n

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.<\/p>\n