By now, Los Angeles Lakers fans should be aware that a sprained finger and lower leg contusion will keep Luka Doncic on the bench for at least a week.
Considering that LeBron James won’t be available for the Lakers, either, Los Angeles will be at a disadvantage against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
While Gabe Vincent has been serving as James’ replacement in the Lakers’ starting lineup, it was unclear who would take Doncic’s place for the early-season Western Conference match-up. That all changed less than an hour before tip-off.
According to the Lakers' official X/Twitter account, the franchise will replace Doncic with Marcus Smart against the Kings, which should help ease some of the pain the franchise and its fanbase felt when the news of Doncic's injury broke.
Scoring-wise, Smart can only dream about being in the same stratosphere as Doncic. The former Boston Celtics guard is averaging only 6.0 points per game on 50% shooting from the field and 25% shooting from three-point land thus far.
However, stats don’t tell the whole story with Smart. The Oklahoma State product is a seasoned veteran who makes all the right plays offensively and hounds opposing guards on the defensive end (he’s earned three NBA All-Defensive team nods and one Defensive Player of the Year nod in his career).
As long as Smart refrains from getting out of his element during his first start in a Lakers uniform, Los Angeles, which will be led by Austin Reaves all night long, should feel decent about its chances of securing a victory.
More NBA: Why Luka Doncic isn't playing tonight for Lakers vs. Kings after concerning injury news