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Sports can be rather ruthless when it comes to poorly timed injuries. Luka Doncic, the Los Angeles Lakers’ only hope and a legitimate MVP candidate, strained his hamstring and is out indefinitely — very possibly missing the first round of the NBA Playoffs or more. Austin Reaves, their second primary offensive creator, went down to an oblique strain and could miss even more time. He’s trying to rush back, but that’s a scary idea in itself, too. If this was not pro basketball, everyone could just rest up and hit the ground running when healed. The Lakers do not have time for that, and they must soldier on with whatever forces they can muster.
If LeBron James can somehow drag his shorthanded team out of the first round, it will be an iconic, hitherto unheard-of effort that the poets will sing about for decades. But the far more pressing fallout of these injuries is this: the Lakers’ peril creates a power vacuum in the Western Conference that other teams are ready to pounce on.
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What was a fairly even field in the West just got tilted hard in favor of whoever can figure out how to play the Lakers in the first round. Currently, the Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets are separated by less than two games with only four games left. It’s anyone’s guess who will be 3, 4 and 5. The Nuggets and Rockets have both been on absolute tears, winning nine and six straight games, respectively. The Minnesota Timberwolves, the six seed, thought they had won the lottery and that the Lakers had locked up the three seed to be their first-round opponent — not so. This is all terribly confusing, so I’m going to break it down like an NBA seeding-logistic DJ making a really boring mixtape:
The NBA Playoffs do not re-seed opponents each round. I repeat: The NBA Playoffs do not re-seed opponents. That means the winner of the 2-7 match always plays the winner of the 3-6 match AND the winner of the 1-8 match always plays the winner of the 4-5 match. I forget this every year, but we have to remember it this time because it’s important. Write it on your hand. Tattoo it on your back like John Wick. Schedule…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/luka-doncic-injury-creates-power-134148521.html
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Publish date : 2026-04-07 13:41:00
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