The Los Angeles Lakers have filed their injury report, revealing Luka Dončić‘s status for the crucial Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Only Maxi Kleber (foot surgery recovery) is in the Lakers’ injury report, meaning Dončić will be available to play after a stomach bug sapped his energy in their 114-103 loss in Game 3.
Dončić wasn’t himself in Game 3 as he was held to 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting, seven rebounds, eight assists against five turnovers after averaging 34-10-5 in the first two games.
“He hasn’t been feeling well for the last 24 hours, so I don’t know how much he slept last night,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of his Dončić after the loss. “He didn’t feel well last night. His stomach was bothering him. He was vomiting all afternoon. I’m not sure what happened at halftime. I’ll find out, but he was really under the weather.”
With Dončić feeling ill, LeBron James picked up the scoring slack and dropped 38 points. But it was not enough to prevent the Lakers from surrendering a 2-1 lead to the sixth-seeded Timberwolves.
“Obviously, with his illness, it impacts our team,” James told reporters after the loss. “We understand what he brings to our team and what he’s done since the acquisition. It definitely took a big blow for our team.”
Luka ‘Gave Everything’
Dorian Finney-Smith thought Dončić could not survive the high-intensity Game 3.
“I didn’t think he was going to come out [for the] second half,” Finney-Smith told reporters. “Just because of how he sounded, his body language, how he looked. He looked a little pale today. He probably needs to hydrate some more. But like I said, Luka’s tough.”
The Slovenian star braved through but he couldn’t replicate Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” to get the Lakers over the hump.
Austin Reaves, who contributed 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists, but he also had four turnovers, lauded Dončić’s effort despite the dire circumstances.
“He gave it everything he had tonight and played 39, 40 minutes, did everything he could do to help us win,” Reaves told reporters. “We had an opportunity. It was a one-possession game with three minutes left, and yeah, we just couldn’t get it done.”
The Lakers committed 19 turnovers which the Timberwolves turned into 28 points.
“Obviously, you know, [16] turnovers on the road is not going to be a good ingredient for winning, giving up [28] points off those turnovers. You know they had [21] points in transition as well,” James lamented.
No Rim Protection
Redick made a blunt admission on how the Lakers lost the game.
“The fact is we don’t have quote-unquote rim protection,” Redick told reporters after the loss. “You give up blow-bys, we’re gonna give up something. We’re gonna give up a three [pointer] or shot at the rim.”
Minnesota’s athletic wings Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels repeatedly blew by Lakers defenders and attacked the rim.
The result?
A staggering 56-36 Timberwolves dominance inside the paint on top of their turnover woes.
Minnesota had 91 field goal attempts compared to Los Angeles’ 78.
“They won the possession battle,” Redick lamented. It’s hard to win when you give up double-digit more opportunities to score. We’ve got to clean that up.”
