The Lakers have reached the part of the NBA season in which they get a week off because of the All-Star break that starts Friday. It’ll give the Lakers time to rest and, perhaps most importantly, to get healthy.
Luka Doncic is at the center of what they do, but he missed his fourth straight game with left leg soreness, leaving the Lakers shorthanded yet again, a position they have found themselves in for most of the season.
So before LeBron James led the Lakers with a triple-double of 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a 124-104 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked about Doncic’s status for the All-Star game Sunday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
“It’s above my pay grade,” Redick said.
Doncic was the leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game.
So, Redick was asked again if Doncic would play in the game if he gets cleared.
“It’s above my pay grade,” Redick responded again.
Doncic, who leads the NBA in scoring (32.8) and is third in assists (8.6), went through his pregame routine before the Lakers played the Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena.
Redick said Doncic is doing “really good.”
“He’s progressed really good,” Redick said. “I think part of him wanted to push to get back prior to the break. But we’ve gotta be cautious with soft-tissue injuries. Obviously, we were very cautious with Austin [Reaves]. I mean, you just saw what happened with [Oklahoma City’s] Jalen Williams [reoccuring right hamstring injury] coming back. We all feel very comfortable with the decision to hold him out and should be good to go post All-Star.”
After missing Tuesday night’s game against the Spurs, the Lakers got James (left foot arthritis), Reaves (left calf injury management) and Marcus Smart (right ankle soreness) back.
But center Deandre Ayton missed his second straight game with right knee soreness. Redick said Ayton got an MRI that revealed his injury.
“He’ll get proper care over break and then he’ll be back as well,” Redick said.
The Lakers didn’t miss Ayton, building a 22-point lead and having five players score in double figures.
Rui Hachimura had 21 points on nine-for-13 shooting and Reaves had 18 points and six assists.
The Lakers are 33-21 and in fifth place in the super-tough Western Conference.
They have 28 games left in the regular season after an injury-marred first part of the season that tested the Lakers on many levels.
“I think the nature of this is there’s always going to be opportunities to respond to poor games, to failure,” Redick said. “There’s opportunities to respond to good stretches and not get complacent. I think the group has responded to all of the challenges the season has presented in a really good way.”
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