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Luka Doncic injures hamstring in Lakers’ lopsided loss to Thunder

April 3, 2026

OKLAHOMA CITY — There is getting slapped in the face. There’s getting punched in the mouth. And then there’s what happened to the Lakers on Thursday night.

Since late February, Lakers coach JJ Redick has mentioned often that because they are the Lakers, their losses are typically louder than the rest of the teams in the league. Not many losses will be as loud as the 139-96 shellacking the Thunder (61-16) handed the Lakers (50-27) at Paycom Center – the type of loss that takes some of the steam out of the Lakers’ 15-2 March surge. And if bad could go to worse, it did – twice.

With 7:39 left in the third quarter, with the Lakers trailing 90-58, Luka Doncic pulled up and grabbed at his left leg after attempting a mid-range jumper. He limped before relaxing himself to the court where he would be helped up. Doncic, who had 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting to go with seven assists and six turnovers, walked to the locker room under his own power and did not return with what the team said was a left hamstring injury.

“At this point, at this juncture of the season, it’s the last thing you want to see,” LeBron James said. “Especially, anybody on our team, but when you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury.”

Doncic had tweaked his left hamstring during the first half, requiring treatment before being cleared to play the second half despite the Lakers already trailing by 31 points. The coaching staff even discussed removing the likes of Doncic and Reaves should they had been unable to cut the lead six minutes into the third quarter. But that’s when Doncic fell, and the wheels which had already deflated, fell off.

“We checked him out,” Redick said, adding that Doncic will get an MRI on Friday morning to determine the severity of the injury. “He got work done. He was cleared. I mean, again, we’re not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen.”

Doncic already missed time before the All-Star break with a left hamstring strain. Since the break, the Slovenian star has led the NBA in scoring at 35.8 points per game as the Lakers won 17 of 22 games before facing the Thunder on Thursday. Doncic even won Western Conference Player of the Month for his efforts in March.

Earlier Thursday, with the Lakers already trailing by 15 points in the first quarter, the Lakers had another injury scare. Starting guard Austin Reaves exited after holding at his lower-left back region on multiple possessions. Reaves re-entered the game and finished with 15 points before the Lakers removed him alongside starters LeBron James and Deandre Ayton for the fourth quarter.

“He was in a weird position, stretching for a basketball, loose ball, and just felt something like intercostal, somewhere in his back, in between the ribs,” Redick said. “He was able to play through it and battled back. But we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Reaves said that he was unsure exactly of what happened beyond overextending for the ball, but that he received treatment at halftime and was able to return at halftime.

“We’ll see,” Reaves said.

The game, which the NBA’s social media accounts had rightfully billed as two of the top MVP candidates battling – Doncic at one end and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the other – was a one-sided affair long before Doncic departed. Gilgeous-Alexander extended his consecutive 20-point games record with a 28-point performance to lead Oklahoma City, carving up the Lakers with a 12-for-25 shooting performance and taking a seat before the third quarter concluded. Now, Doncic could end up in a scenario where he ends the season one game short of the 65 games played needed to be eligible for postseason awards, such as MVP and All-NBA honors.

Thunder guard Isaiah Joe, who scored 19 points in the Thunder’s victory over the Lakers in February, had another highly efficient night off the bench. Joe shot 7 for 9 from 3-point range and finished with 20 points.

The Lakers had averaged 12.6 turnovers per game since the All-Star break, tied for the third-fewest in the NBA over that span. In the first quarter alone they had eight turnovers and fell behind by 23 points, surrendering fast-break points and second-chance points in flurries. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers had 18 turnovers and walked off the court with their most lopsided defeat of the season.

Thursday was similar to the Lakers’ early-season visit to Oklahoma City. On Nov. 12, they trailed by 32 points at halftime. On Thursday, the Lakers surrendered 82 points before the break and trailed by 31 with the Thunder shooting 60% from the field. OKC’s 139 points are the most the Lakers have conceded in a game this season.

“They beat the (expletive) out of us,” Reaves said. “We have got to be better.”

James expressed how the Lakers’ lost in similar phrasing: “We understand and know what they’re capable of and (expletive), they beat the (expletive) out of us tonight, obviously, from the start.”

The Thunder shot 54% overall, including 19 for 42 from 3-point range, and attempted 23 more field goals than the Lakers. They had a 24-9 advantage in points off turnovers, a 32-14 cushion in fast-break points and led by as much as 46 points.

Backup center Jaxson Hayes had 12 points for the Lakers, while Luke Kennard played a team-high 33 minutes.

Next on the docket is an Easter Sunday matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, before flying back to Los Angeles to try and bounce back against the Thunder on Tuesday.

“There’s never a time to get comfortable in this league,” James said. “The only thing we do know is that we won’t be in the play-in, so we have that week. But health is wealth. Obviously, we’re already out with Marcus (Smart) right now and now Luka. We don’t know what the timetable is, but obviously, but we’ll see.”

Orange County Register

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Luka Doncic injures hamstring in Lakers’ lopsided loss to Thunder

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