The Los Angeles Lakers took down their crosstown rivals on Sunday night, defeating the Clippers, 108-102. Luka Doncic led the way for the purple and gold with 29 points but gave every Lakers fan in Crypto.com Arena a heart attack when he hobbled off the floor to the locker room late in the first quarter.
He was, of course, fine. Doncic returned to the bench early in the second and got back on the court shortly thereafter to help drive the Lakers to a win. Afterwards he spoke to reporters about what happened and revealed he was struggling with a right leg injury after knocking knees for the third straight game.
“Third straight game, the same spot,” Doncic said. “So I was kind of struggling on that right leg. But I’m good.”
The last item is obviously the most important. Doncic has already missed significant time this season due to injury, which is why the sight of him limping to the locker room on Sunday probably struck great fear into the hearts of Laker nation. But it sounds as though it was the result of the types of bumps and bruises all NBA players deal with.
Doncic will next take the floor with L.A. on Tuesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans. He is surely hoping to avoid taking a fourth straight knee-to-knee blow.
