Ahead of their Sunday night matchup against the Sacramento Kings, it was announced Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic would be sidelined for a week because of two injuries.
Read more: Lakers Announce Brutal Luka Doncic Injury News as Star Will Miss Time
Doncic was originally listed as questionable, but was officially downgraded to out because of a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion.
The Lakers have announced their starting lineup for Sunday’s game with Marcus Smart replacing Doncic against the Kings. The purple and gold still have a good chance to steal a game on the road as Sacramento’s game plan likely centered around Doncic.
The loss of Doncic is a huge blow for the Lakers, who were just starting to find a rhythm after a 128-110 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night. The 2025-26 season has been an uphill battle for the purple and gold as the team kicked off the year without superstar LeBron James.
James is dealing with sciatica on his right side and is expected to be out until mid-November. Now, the Lakers will be missing their two best players for this next stretch of games, which features the Kings, Portland Trailblazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Memphis Grizzlies.
Life without Doncic and James means Austin Reaves will have to step up for the Lakers. Reaves has impressed in the first two games of the season, scoring a combined 51 points with 21 assists and 12 rebounds against the Golden State Warriors and Timberwolves.
This will be an important period for Reaves, who declined a contract extension with the Lakers in the offseason giving him the ability to test the free agent market next summer.
The Lakers’ depth is quickly dwindling early in the season with the team having just nine of their 14 official roster players available. Jaxson Hayes is also unavailable for Sunday’s road matchup.
The Lakers will have to made do without Doncic for the time being, but he could return for next Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat. However, the Lakers will play two games in a row with the Heat next Sunday and the Trailblazers Monday.
Therefore, it’s likely Doncic returns for one of those games but not both since he’s returning from injury. It seems almost certain the Lakers will be without their 26-year-old franchise star for at least five of the next six games.
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