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One week ago, the Los Angeles Lakers clinched their spot in the NBA playoffs. They had won 15 of 17 games behind a surge from Luka Dončić and looked prime to lock up the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
How quickly things can change.
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Dončić injured his left hamstring late in a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Austin Reaves strained his left oblique in the same game, and just like that, the Lakers were down two of their most important players for the foreseeable future.
The reaction was predictable; the Lakers came out flat against an already eliminated Dallas Mavericks team on Sunday. They were able to fight back behind a 30-point, 15-assist effort from LeBron James and a triple-double by trade deadline acquisition Luke Kennard, but Cooper Flagg had arguably his signature moment of his rookie season with 45 points, eight rebounds and nine assists to outlast LA 134-128, handing the shorthanded Lakers their second straight loss.
In the meantime, the other teams in the running for the third seed – the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets – have surged. The Nuggets have won nine in a row and overtook the Lakers for third place with their comeback over the Portland Trail Blazers, Monday, April 6. The Rockets, trailing by just one game, have also been red-hot with a six-game winning streak of their own.
So how much room do the Lakers have for error – if any at all? Here’s what lies ahead for each team in the final week of the season:
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Luka Dončić carries the physical toll of a demanding season
Luka Dončić carried a heavy workload throughout the season, often playing through physical challenges as the wear of the schedule accumulated.
Now sidelined for the remainder of the regular season, these images reflect moments when the strain of the year was visible as Dončić worked through injuries while leading his team.
Above, Luka Dončić of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on from the bench at the end of the third quarter against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on March 19, 2026, in Miami, Florida.
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Luka Dončić…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nuggets-rockets-surge-could-injuries-180315932.html
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Publish date : 2026-04-07 18:03:00
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