Luka Dončić gave an encouraging health update after injury scare vs. Bucks

Late in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 123-112 win against the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night, Luka Dončić went to the locker room with an ankle injury after Kyle Kuzma ran him over on a pretty careless closeout.

Despite not returning once he took and hit his free throw, Dončić made clear there’s nothing to worry about moving forward.

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“I’m good,” he told reporters postgame “Obviously, it’s painful a little bit, but I’ll be fine.”

Off to a roaring first three weeks, Dončić is powering the Lakers’ West-leading 11-2 start and current seven-game winning streak. With Dončić on the floor this season, Los Angeles has outscored its opponents by 165 points in 395 minutes. When he sits, it’s been outscored by 62 points in 229 minutes.

If you’d like the small-sample theatre for those numbers, that’s a plus-19.3 net rating with him and a minus-11.1 net rating without him. The Lakers are posting a ridiculous 131.0 offensive rating during his minutes. Yet they’ve also been much better defensively in that span, allowing 111.6 points per 100 possessions with him and 120.0 per 100 without him.

That’s largely the product of Dončić playing career-best defense as he’s drawing charges, inhaling rebounds and consistently occupying the passing lanes or rotating punctually off the ball to generate turnovers. Only Brandin Podziemski (five) has drawn more charges than Dončić (four) while his 2.4% steal rate and 1.1% block rate are career highs, per Cleaning the Glass.

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Although the on-off numbers are staggering and the Lakers will certainly be glad Dončić has avoided injury, they have survived the two games he’s sat out thus far. Austin Reaves scored 43 points Sunday to lead them past a very good Detroit Pistons squad and they trounced the Los Angeles Clippers, 103-87, back on Oct. 28.

That’s not to downplay Dončić’s importance but rather to highlight the Lakers’ depth and their adaptability. Dončić is a supernova but 11-2, including seven straight wins, doesn’t happen with a one-man show. Los Angeles is a well-rounded group and has received key contributions almost every night from…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/luka-don-gave-encouraging-health-160642588.html

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Publish date : 2026-11-12 16:06:00

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