All signs point to Luka Doncic returning to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup for Thursday’s Christmas Day clash against the Houston Rockets. After Tuesday’s 132-108 blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns, Lakers head coach JJ Redick provided a positive Doncic injury update in his postgame news conference.
Redick said Doncic is “doing fine” and remains day-to-day with his left calf contusion, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. He also provided a positive update on another starter, Rui Hachimura, who has missed the last two games with a groin strain.
Redick’s comments line up with McMenamin’s pregame reporting that there’s a “very real possibility” that Doncic will be cleared in time for the Christmas Day game. Doncic will reportedly continue to wear padding on his leg to protect him from future collisions, after he got kneed in the left calf by Bogdan Bogdanovic during the first half of the game against the LA Clippers last Saturday, which led to his calf contusion.
Luka Doncic Injury Pattern
Doncic had similarly suffered a lower leg contusion in late October after getting struck by an opponent player, which kept him out of action for a week. The recurring Luka Doncic injury pattern has Redick and the Lakers medical staff seemingly concerned.
Redick had earlier speculated that Doncic’s scoring style — which relies on a lot of body manipulation — could be leading to him getting struck in his lower extremities.
“Could be just the decel…the way he uses his body,” Redick said on Doncic repeatedly taking blows to his lower leg, via The Sporting Tribune’s Carlos Yakimowich.
“We’re talking about looking into ways to potentially protect against these collisions… the mechanisms that keep happening where he’s getting hit.”
“It’s happened a bunch this season,” added the second-year Lakers head coach.
Lakers Injury Concerns
On Tuesday, the Lakers used their 17th different starting lineup in 28 games, mostly due to injuries. Thus far, Austin Reaves (six), Doncic (seven), LeBron James (16), Gabe Vincent (14), Marcus Smart (nine), and Rui Hachimura (three) have all missed significant periods with various injuries. Three of those players, Vincent, Hachimura and Doncic, were unavailable on Tuesday, but Reaves returned after a three-game absence, providing a boost off the bench with 17 points, two assists and two rebounds.
One wonders if Doncic will also come off the bench in his first game back, though Reaves’ injury, a calf strain, was far more severe than his backcourt partner’s.
Doncic’s return, though, won’t solve the Lakers’ most pressing issue: their perimeter defense. In Tuesday’s loss to the Suns, they allowed Devin Booker and Co. to shoot 59% from the field, including 62 points in the paint.
Redick blasted his team for not following his coaching staff’s defensive principles.
“We show film on this stuff enough that to me, it like comes down to just making the choice. It’s making the choice,” Redick said.
“There are shortcuts you can take or you can do the hard thing and you can make the second effort or you can sprint back or you can’t. It’s just a choice.”
The Lakers (19-9), on their first two-game losing streak of the season, will host the Rockets (17-10) in the first clash between the conference rivals on Christmas. The Rockets start the game as -1.5 favorites, per DraftKings, despite being on the road.
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