Luka Doncic Injury Update Brings Bad News for Lakers' Playoff Run

When the Los Angeles Lakers headed into a first-round series against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets, they were considered underdogs due to injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

However, Durant missed multiple games due to injuries, and the Lakers still had superstar LeBron James, who, at 41, helped power his team to a first-round 4-2 win. Ahead of this series, there was talk that the Lakers needed to extend their postseason as long as possible to allow Luka and Reaves to recover.

Reaves returned for the final two games of the first round and contributed in both games. However, Doncic remained on the sidelines, offering his support from the bench.

Now the Lakers will face a much tougher task, as they will battle the NBA defending champion, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the second round, and some were hoping to see Luka back on the court to help out.

Read more:LeBron James Jokes Bronny James and NFL Star Are ‘Twins' After Lakers' Win

Unfortunately, a new injury update from NBA insider Shams Charania on Sunday cast doubt on Luka’s return, at least for now. Charania indicated that, from what he’s heard, Luka would not be available for the start of the OKC series. Some may have already expected that.

However, Charania also said a source told him “it’s still a slow path on Doncic’s recovery,” and while he may have upped his on-court activities, he’s “still not doing full contact workouts.”

Luka is still recovering from the Grade 2 left hamstring strain that he suffered on April 2. Reaves also suffered his oblique injury in that early April game against Oklahoma City.

Los Angeles already faced a challenging situation to start their postseason, but this Thunder squad is undoubtedly a much tougher opponent than the Rockets. They’re the defending champions and favorites to repeat as champions for a reason.

Read more:Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Jaylen Brown, Celtics for Major Issue vs. 76ers

OKC, powered by reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, seems destined to reach the Western Conference Finals. They swept Devin Booker and the No. 8-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round and rested, awaiting their next opponent.

Oklahoma City hosts the Lakers for Game 1 on Tuesday night. With Luka out of action, it will be especially hard for the Lakers to steal that game on the road. It might be difficult to win any games in the series without Luka.

The Thunder won all four of the two teams’ regular-season meetings, including several blowouts, one of which occurred in November with Luka playing while LeBron was out of action.

As of this writing, the defending champs enter their second-round series as the overwhelming favorites to win it, and barring some epic LeBron performances or heroics from his teammates, it wouldn’t be surprising to see OKC complete another sweep.

Read more:Celtics Made the Right Decision Sitting Jayson Tatum for Game 7 vs. Sixers

For more about the NBA Playoffs, head over to Newsweek Sports.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 5:31 PM.