{"id":653997,"date":"2026-05-06T20:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653997\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T20:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:00:15","slug":"luka-doncic-gives-injury-update-on-hamstring-before-lakers-thunder-nba-playoffs-game-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653997\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic gives injury update on hamstring before Lakers-Thunder NBA Playoffs Game 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luka Doncic<\/a>\u00a0is still working his way back onto the court, as his\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>\u00a0face the\u00a0OKC Thunder<\/a>\u00a0in the second round of the\u00a0NBA Playoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doncic has been\u00a0sidelined since April 2 with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain<\/a>. The superstar guard told the media Wednesday that he has started running, but he hasn’t yet been cleared for full contact.<\/p>\n

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“I’m just doing everything I can,” Doncic said. “Every day, I’m doing things I’m supposed to do. Obviously, I’m recovering, and now I’m working. The doctor said eight weeks at the beginning of the first MRI. So I\u2019m just going day by day, and I feel better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doncic received that first MRI on April 3, which was nearly five weeks ago. If the eight-week recovery timeline holds up, he’d miss the entire second-round series against OKC.<\/p>\n

The Thunder already holds a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.\u00a0It claimed a 108-90 home win<\/a>\u00a0in Game 1 on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is,” Doncic said. “All I want to do is play basketball, especially this time (of year). It’s the best time to play basketball. It’s very frustrating. Seeing what my team is doing, I’m very proud of them. But it’s been very tough just to sit and watch them play.”<\/p>\n

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Game 2 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT Thursday in Oklahoma City<\/a> (Prime Video).<\/p>\n

MUSSATTO: Thunder shows how big its margin for error is vs. Lakers in Game 1 rout<\/a><\/p>\n

1 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder vs LA Lakers in Game 1 NBA Playoffs, see top photos<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe arrives before Game 1 of the NBA playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

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1 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder vs LA Lakers in Game 1 NBA Playoffs, see top photos<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe arrives before Game 1 of the NBA playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

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2 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder vs LA Lakers in Game 1 NBA Playoffs, see top photos<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort arrives before Game 1 of the NBA playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

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3 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder vs LA Lakers in Game 1 NBA Playoffs, see top photos<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander arrives before Game 1 of the NBA playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

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4 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder vs LA Lakers in Game 1 NBA Playoffs, see top photos<\/p>\n

Shirts are pictured before Game 1 of the NBA playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

Thunder vs Lakers schedule for second round of NBA Playoffs<\/p>\n

Best-of-seven; Games 5-7 if necessary.<\/p>\n

More: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder shake off rust to rout Lakers in ‘imperfect’ Game 1<\/a><\/p>\n

Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X\/Twitter at\u00a0@Justintohoops. Sign up for the\u00a0Thunder Sports Minute newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a\u00a0digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Luka Doncic injury update before Lakers-Thunder Game 2 of NBA Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic\u00a0is still working his way back onto the court, as his\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0face the\u00a0OKC Thunder\u00a0in the second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,481,7232,11473,590,13799,23657,5673,12841,85],"class_list":["post-653997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-okc-thunder","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}