Lakers coach JJ Redick said Luka Doncic will undergo an MRI after leaving Thursday night’s 139-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a left hamstring injury.
“Luka is going to have an MRI tomorrow. We’ll know more tomorrow,” Redick said after the game at Paycom Center.
Redick said the Lakers never settled in after Oklahoma City’s fast start, pointing first to the opening possession battle. “I thought when the game started, we frankly had unforced turnovers. They had a lot more shots on goal to start the game.”
He also credited the Thunder for making their perimeter looks early. “They made Lu Dort, coming out making threes, was big.”
Even after Los Angeles steadied offensively in the second quarter, Redick said the issues never stopped on the other end. “We settled in offensively in the second quarter, but just could never really get it going defensively for us.”
Oklahoma City led 44-21 after the first quarter and 82-51 at halftime, with Redick pointing to the Thunder’s shot quality and the Lakers’ giveaways as the main reasons the game got away.
“Shai played 30 minutes and took 25 shots and scored 28 points,” Redick said. “We did a good job in not keeping him off the free-throw line, but he’s going to get his, and those other guys made a lot of threes.”
The Lakers committed eight turnovers in the first quarter alone, and Redick said that early stretch changed the entire night. “Obviously, the turnovers killed us.”
Austin Reaves also dealt with discomfort during the game, and Redick said the guard was dealing with a possible intercostal issue. “He was in a weird position stretching for a basketball, loose ball, and just felt something like intercostal, somewhere in his back, in between the ribs.”
Redick added that Reaves was able to stay on the floor. “He was able to play through it and battled back, but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
When asked whether Doncic should have been held out earlier, Redick said the Lakers evaluated him before the injury forced him out. “We checked him out. He got work done. He was cleared. Again, we’re not going to put a player at risk.”
Redick said the possibility of sitting players was discussed at halftime. “It was discussed at halftime. Thought we’d give those guys about six minutes and then, if we didn’t cut into the lead, we were going to pull them.”
The Lakers now head to Dallas on Sunday, while the rematch with the Thunder arrives quickly on April 7.
