On Wednesday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers fell back into the loss column with a 30-point defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lakers got an injury scare early in this game, when superstar Luka Doncic briefly had to exit the contest before ultimately returning.
Doncic's injury, in which he fell onto the sideline and off the court entirely, raised continued anger about the Cavs' elevated court, which drops off into a lower level not far from the sideline.
Now, a newly unearthed camera angle has revealed Doncic's immediate reaction in the aftermath of the play in which he was hurt.
(NFSW, via Overtime on X, formerly Twitter).
Luka not happy with the Cleveland floor design 🫠 (via postdaws/TT) pic.twitter.com/PYpigetMec
— Overtime (@overtime) January 29, 2026
Doncic and the Lakers are not the first team to complain about the Cavaliers' elevated court design, which has been blamed for injuries in the past.
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Thankfully, Doncic's ailment did not appear to be anything too severe, as he was able to return to the lineup and finish the game.
Still, Doncic and his teammates were able to hit the bench early in this one thanks to the fact that the Lakers were getting blown out of the gym for most of the fourth quarter, despite being in a two-point game at halftime. Overall, it was an ugly third quarter for Los Angeles, which is currently in the middle of its annual monster “Grammy Road Trip,” which takes the team to several Eastern Conference cities and will continue into this weekend.
The hope is that Doncic will not be forced to miss any time for the Lakers moving forward, with the All-Star break looming on the horizon, which will give everyone an opportunity to reset.
In any case, the Lakers will next take the floor on Friday evening for a road game against the Washington Wizards. Tipoff for that game is set for 7:00 pm ET.