Hopefully Lakers fans enjoyed Friday’s showing from Luka Dončić as they won’t be seeing it again for a while.
Luka injured his finger during the game against Minnesota and had it taped relatively early in the contest. It clearly didn’t slow him on the night as he scored at will throughout. However, it will play a part in him being sidelined for the next week.
The Lakers play four games over the next week, starting with a road game against Sacramento on Sunday. They will then play the Blazers on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back at home. They will then travel to Minnesota on Wednesday and Memphis on Friday before returning home against Miami next Sunday.
Based on the timeline, the Heat game would be the first game Luka could return.
Without him, the Lakers will be facing quite the uphill battle. While their next two games are against teams who didn’t make the playoffs last season, they’ll also come without Luka or LeBron James, who will be out into November.
They will have to rely heavily on Austin Reaves and hope that their role players can step up. Even then, it’ll be a tough ask for the team to even come out of this stretch at .500.
It’s a tough blow for the team after looking to have gained so much momentum from Friday’s victory.