Luka Dončić is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury, and the Lakers have to figure out how to move forward without him.
L.A. had been streaking for weeks, and Dončić had been playing his best basketball since first donning purple and gold last season. The Lakers currently occupy third place in the Western Conference, 11 games behind the Thunder and one ahead of the fourth-place Nuggets. They have clinched a Pacific Division title, but have much bigger goals in mind.
Dončić will be out for at least the rest of the regular season, and his absence could spill into the playoffs. On Saturday, head coach JJ Redick and LeBron James both addressed what the team needed to change to keep things together without its superstar on the court.
“From a strategic, tactical standpoint, we obviously are gonna have to play a little bit differently,” Redick said. “There’s enough that we have in that we can play through LeBron, play through Luke [Kennard], play through Rui [Hachimura], play through [Deandre Ayton]. And then we’ll just wait and see until Austin [Reaves] and [Marcus] Smart are back. But our mission hasn’t changed. We want to go get the three-seed, and we want to win a first-round series.”
He added, “I know Luka’s going to do everything he can to get back on the court. We don’t know what this recovery timetable looks like.”
James said the team had to step up collectively with Dončić out.
“I mean, it’s a challenge for us, it’s always got to be next man up,” he said. “No way you could replace that type of impact, so it’s going to be a collective group having to figure out a way to do a little bit more. Even now, we got to be even more tightened up on the things that we do. You lose a special player like that, you can’t have as many mistakes.”
He’s right that the Lakers won’t be able to replace Dončić, they’ll just have to find ways to plug holes and stay afloat while he’s gone.
In 16 games during the month of March, Dončić was brilliant. He averaged 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He did that while shooting 49.2% from the field and 39.2% from three-point range and leading L.A. to a 14-2 record in those contests.
Dončić will finish the regular season averaging 33.5 points per game, which is tops in the league. He also ranks fourth in assists (8.3), fourth in triple-doubles (eight), fifth in PER (28.0) and win shares (9.6) and grabbed 7.7 rebounds per game. He’s been brilliant.
It’s not going to shock anyone that the Lakers are worse with Dončić on the bench this season. Their offensive rating with him on the floor is 120.9, while it’s 114.2 when he’s out. That said, L.A. is a bit better defensively with him off the floor, as their defensive rating with him is 116.4, and 115.1 without him.
Austin Reaves will also be out for a few weeks with an oblique injury, adding to the Lakers’ injury woes. James will have to turn back the clock and take over the scoring load with both stars sidelined.
It won’t be easy, but if the Lakers can survive long enough for Dončić to return, they could still be a contender in the Western Conference.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lakers Discuss How to Move Forward with Luka Dončić Sidelined .
