4 hours Ago By Daniel Chavkin
The Lakers are facing elimination on Wednesday night, but the first half did not go Los Angeles' way. Not only were the Lakers down 10 points to the Timberwolves at halftime, but star Luka Doncic also left the game with a minute to go in the second quarter with an injury. Doncic played 20 minutes in the first two quarters after his 46 minutes on Sunday as Los Angeles faces a 3-1 series deficit.
Doncic, of course, missed 32 games this season with injuries, making his 50 games played the fewest in his NBA career so far. After making his Lakers debut in early February, Doncic missed just three games the rest of the way for Los Angeles. 📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp Here's the latest on Doncic's injury against Minnesota.
NBA PLAYOFFS HQ: Live NBA scores | NBA playoff schedule | NBA playoff bracket Luka Doncic injury update Late in the second quarter, Doncic landed awkwardly while driving to the basket as he was fouled by Donte DiVincenzo. While going to the ground, Doncic grabbed his back and was in some clear pain. The Lakers star stayed in the game briefly to attempt free throws before leaving the game and heading to the locker room early.
Luka went back to the locker room after this hard foul. Hope he's okay 🙏 pic.twitter.
com/jS7qewOTZj Doncic returned to the game in the second half despite being in discomfort. He has played at least 40 minutes in each game so far in these playoffs, topping out at 46 minutes on Sunday in Game 4. Luka Doncic stats So far in the game, Doncic got the majority of his points on free throw attempts, as he's struggled from the field.
Here's how Doncic fared in the first half of Game 5 against the Timberwolves: Minutes : 20 Points : 12 Rebounds : 5 Assists : 4 FGM/FGA : 2/7 3PM/3PA : 0/3 FTM/FTA : 8/9.
