Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić will return from Spain on Friday, per ESPN. Dončić suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and went to Spain seeking treatment for the injury, hoping to speed up his return-to-play timeline.
The No. 4-seeded Lakers open their first-round series against the No. 5-seeded Houston Rockets on Saturday. Dončić will presumably be in the building. It remains unclear, however, if he’ll be able to play again this season, in part because it’s unclear if the Lakers will be able to “extend the season,” as coach JJ Redick put it, long enough for that to be a realistic possibility. Los Angeles is also entering the playoffs without Austin Reaves, who suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain the same night that Dončić got hurt.
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The day after the injury, the Lakers ruled out Dončić for the rest of the regular season. Typically, a Grade 2 hamstring strain means sitting out for a month or more. Game 1 of the Lakers’ season comes 16 days after Dončić left the game with his injury.
Without Dončić and Reaves, the 41-year-old LeBron James is going to have a larger playmaking load than anticipated — and perhaps desired — against Houston. James was the Western Conference’s Player of the Week in the final week of the regular season.
The Lakers have home court advantage against the Rockets in the opening series after securing the No. 4 seed in the West. They’ll look to survive and win their first playoff series against a Houston team that won nine of its final 10 games of the regular season.
