Los Angeles Lakers fans will wake up on Friday morning with an unease about the MRI results from Luka Doncic's hamstring injury that was suffered in the miserable 139-96 blowout to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The worst part is it came oh so close to potential being avoided altogether.
JJ Redick said: "It was discussed at halftime. Thought we'd give those guys about six minutes and then if we didn't cut into the lead, we were going to pull them. Obviously, it was around that time. I don't remember the exact time, but that happened."
The Lakers head coach is unfortunately right on the money. Doncic pulled up awkwardly with that hamstring when there was about 7:42 remaining in the third quarter. The Thunder were up 32 points at that moment. In an alternate timeline, Doncic gets yanked from the game in a minute and a half.
Unfortunately for all, that is not the reality we are living in. Instead, Friday will be a day of collective discomfort for a lot of people who are simply wishing Doncic the best-case scenario with his injury moving forward.
Lakers' decision to leave Luka Doncic in the game blew up horrendously
Many have been quick to come down on Redick's decision to put his superstar back out there when the game was as lopsided as it was. The Lakers coach made his case.
On top of the comments given above, Redick made it clear that Doncic was checked on, got work done, and was cleared. The second-year coach emphasized the Lakers would not have willingly and knowingly put a player at risk.
In a night that had to do with limiting disaster, there is still some critique to be given out for the decision to reinsert Doncic — or even Austin Reaves, who tweaked his lower back — into the game for the second half. The score at the break was 82-51 in favor of the Thunder.
Sure, Redick's reasoning and explanation was understandable. They were going to give their stars some time out there to see if they could make something of the game. Given the ailments that were being navigated, sometimes eating a loss really is the lesser of two evils.
No one on the Lakers will need convincing of that after the fallout. The situation at hand is rough, but the destination cannot be walked back at this stage. Doncic's injury needs to be handled with the utmost care from here.