“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, but 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 he and his new NBA team could benefit from his availability. Unfortunately, the Slovenian has not left his Injury troubles far behind yet.

According to a report by Underdog NBA, the Los Angeles 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. RotoWire stated that Luka has been ruled out due to injury management of his left calf. After all, the Slovenian has freshly recovered from the ailment. Therefore, officials would not want him to play back-to-back games and affect the recovery process.

The update comes after JJ Redick highlighted that the Lakers have been struggling to fit Luka Doncic into the squad. The same has been made clear. After all, in the 3 games with the LA franchise, the Slovenian averaged 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. This is a sharp drop from the 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.8 assists he averaged in his final 22 games with the Dallas Mavericks.

Furthermore, it doesn’t help that Luka has not fully recovered from the calf injury sustained during the 2024 Christmas Day game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Fortunately, he is currently undergoing injury management. Therefore, it probably won’t be long before the player is placed under a fully healthy status.

The Lakers would have been right to take a precautionary measure with the point guard. However, his absence would pose a major problem for the team. The last few weeks had seen LeBron James and Co. drastically improving their win record. Thanks to it, the team now holds the 5th seed on the Western Conference points chart.

However, their confidence received a jolt after the team lost the recent game, at home, to the Charlotte Hornets! Yes, the Hornets, which currently holds the 4th worst win record of the season. The game was lost by a 97-100 score, meaning that the loss was almost unavoidable. Now, with Luka Doncic out, the team management will have to figure some things out.

How can the Lakers proceed without Luka Doncic?

In light of Luka Doncic’s absence, Gabe Vincent and Austin Reaves will reportedly carry the load in the backcourt. Austin Reaves has been having the best NBA season of his career right now. In 48 games, he has started in all of them and averaged 18.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6.1 assists. Earlier this month, the player recorded his career-high score! He made 45 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Indiana Pacers.

Meanwhile, Gabe Vincent hasn’t had as much of luck with his scoring. In 45 games, he has started in only 6, and averaged 5.7 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. Despite this, his and Reaves’ presence will be enough to cover for the Slovenian.

The Los Angeles Lakers took a chance on Luka Doncic by acquiring him in a trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. Whether the player will be able to repay that trust by increasing his efficiency and availability rate is something that remains to be seen.