The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Apr. 27 that Luka Doncic is making progress in his recovery from a left hamstring strain, though no timeline has been set for his return. Both Doncic and Austin Reaves have missed the team’s first round playoff series against the Houston Rockets due to injuries.
Reaves appears closer to returning, having been listed as questionable for Games 3 and 4 before ultimately being ruled out. Meanwhile, Doncic continues rehabilitation but remains further from rejoining the lineup. “He just continues to kind of do some stuff on the court,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said of Doncic before Game 4. “He was able to move a little bit today on the court, which you know, most of the stuff has been standstill. So he’s progressing, but no update on any timeline or anything like that.”
Despite missing their top two scorers, the Lakers have managed to take a lead in their series against Houston, winning three straight games before dropping Game 4 in Houston. The team hopes to close out the series in Game 5 and advance to face likely opponent Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round.
Redick expressed disappointment that Doncic was not named an MVP finalist after his strong performance during the regular season prior to his injury. “Disappointed,” Redick said of Doncic not being an MVP finalist. “I think he deserved to be there and I think all three guys that did end up being finalists had strong cases. A lot of this, unfortunately, is media momentum.
“Sometimes a team, I guess we underperformed even though we didn’t have any expectations coming into the year. But I guess we underperformed for a couple months despite him getting Player of the Month one of those months. The media momentum just never got built.”