Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers
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Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat react after colliding.
The Los Angeles Lakers are at home tonight to take on the struggling Brooklyn Nets.
Los Angeles avoided a major upset by taking down the 16-win Indiana Pacers on Wednesday and hope to do the same tonight.
Despite a loss to the Detroit Pistons earlier this week, the Lakers continue to ride high, winning 13 of their last 15 games. Much of that is thanks to the rocketing play of superstar guardLuka Doncic, who has entered his name into the NBA MVP race.
Beyond individual awards and accolades, L.A. aims to finish the season as strong as it looks now while keeping everyone healthy.
The team has struggled with a few injuries as of late, keeping key role playersMarcus Smart andRui Hachimura on the injury report.
Good news is that the Lakers are guaranteed to have their Big Three in the lineup tonight.
Los Angeles Lakers make Luka Doncic announcement before Friday’s bout
L.A. is finally back home after nearly two weeks.
The last time they played at Crypto.com arena was in a thrilling overtime win over the Denver Nuggets — the night Doncic hit a game-winning jumper on the baseline to give his team the decided edge.
Doncic has been a problem for opponents especially in the last few weeks; however, he was added to the injury report this week.
Luka Doncic
GettyLuka Doncic has scored 100 points in the span of 24 hours
But there is nothing to be concerned about; theLakers listed Doncic as available entering tonight’s game. The 27-year-old superstar will avoid missing 13th tilt this season.
Doncic has been dealing with hamstring soreness. Any ailment when it comes to that part of the body is nerve-wracking. Hamstring injuries are tricky to deal with. Sometimes these can keep players out weeks. It is a good sign that Doncic hasn’t missed any games so far because of it, though it will be interesting to see the minutes load head coach JJ Redick has prepared for him tonight.
L.A. needs Doncic healthy and at his best to remain in the hunt
Clearly, the Lakers have been a completely different team ever since Doncic turned on another gear.
Since Feb. 15, a stretch that has seen Los Angeles play 19 games, Doncic is averaging 35.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game on better than 40% shooting from 3-point range. Talk about video game numbers.
The Lakers have also gone 14-5 over this time. These volcanic numbers certainly aren’t empty calories.
When Doncic is at this level, L.A. is a different beast. The entire rest of the Western Conference must take notice and play their A-game to keep up. Only the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have secured more wins than the Lakers since the turn of the calendar. That’s quite a sample size.
At this pace, L.A. is a legitimate contender. Of course, things can change. There are still a few games left on the regular season slate, including two games against the defending champions.
Tonight should be an easy-peasy win, but the tougher games ahead will reveal more about the Lakers’ readiness for the playoffs.