Luka Doncic Hamstring Injury Surfaces As Thunder Dominate Lakers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander powered a dominant night in the NBA as Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Charlotte all posted decisive wins, while Luka Doncic suffered a hamstring injury that cut short a key Western Conference clash and added fresh concern for the Los Angeles Lakers and their playoff positioning.

The Thunder crushed the Lakers 139-96, the Spurs stretched their winning run to 11 games against the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Hornets eased past the Phoenix Suns, with Kon Knueppel and Collin Gillespie both setting single-season 3-point records in a busy slate of Western Conference-influenced results.

Doncic, the league’s top scorer and an MVP candidate, left the game with a hamstring strain after twice appearing to hurt the same area, first in the opening half, then again midway through the third quarter, when Doncic doubled over, lay on the baseline and covered the face with both hands during a Lakers timeout.

Doncic managed to walk slowly to the locker room without assistance, but Lakers coach JJ Redick said Doncic will have an MRI on Friday to learn how serious the hamstring problem is; the guard had scored at least 40 in five of the previous seven games but finished with only 12 against Oklahoma City’s tight defence.

Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 28 points while Isaiah Joe added 20 and hit six 3-pointers, as the Thunder shot 53.9% from the field and quickly turned a meeting of in-form NBA contenders into a one-sided result that left the Lakers chasing the game from early in the first quarter.

Oklahoma City moved further clear near the top of the Western Conference standings, with the Thunder now having won 16 of their last 17 games, while the Lakers saw their strong run checked after entering the contest on a surge of four straight wins and 13 victories from the previous 14 matchups.

Austin Reaves led Los Angeles with 15 points and LeBron James added 13, but the hosts never threatened after Oklahoma City built an 82-51 advantage by half-time, just one point short of the Thunder’s regular-season record of 83 points in one half, set against Minnesota during the 2021 campaign.

Key scoring contributions from the Thunder and Lakers in the NBA clash are shown below.

NBA streaks: Spurs rest Wembanyama but extend run

Earlier in the night, the San Antonio Spurs kept pressure on Oklahoma City in the Western Conference race by beating the Clippers 118-99, despite resting Victor Wembanyama on the second night of a back-to-back, one day after Wembanyama recorded 41 points and 18 rebounds in a 127-113 win at the Golden State Warriors.

De’Aaron Fox guided San Antonio with 22 points on efficient 9-of-13 shooting, Stephon Castle scored 20, and Dylan Harper delivered 19 off the bench, as six Spurs players reached double figures to lift the team to a 27-2 record since Feb. 1 and 11-5 in NBA games when Wembanyama is unavailable.

Kawhi Leonard paced the Clippers with 24 points, posting a 53rd consecutive game with at least 20, while Bennedict Mathurin added 18 off the bench and John Collins scored 15, but the defeat, their second straight after a five-game winning streak, dropped the Clippers to ninth place in the play-in spots as Portland moved to eighth following a 118-106 victory.

NBA 3-point records: Knueppel and Gillespie milestones

In Charlotte, the Hornets beat the Suns 127-107 as Kon Knueppel and Collin Gillespie both rewrote single-season 3-point records, with Miles Bridges scoring 25 points and leading a Hornets side that has now taken seven of the last nine NBA games to strengthen momentum heading into the final stretch.

Knueppel finished with 20 points and hit four 3-pointers, giving the rookie 261 for the season and moving past Kemba Walker’s previous franchise mark of 260, set during the 2018-19 campaign, with the record-breaking shot coming from the corner after Knueppel had missed two open looks earlier in the fourth quarter.

Coby White added 19 points, LaMelo Ball delivered 15 points and 11 assists, and Brandon Miller contributed 17, while on the Phoenix side Gillespie made two 3-pointers and scored six points, enough to surpass Quentin Richardson’s Suns record of 226 3s from the 2004-05 season, as Jalen Green tallied 25 points and Devin Booker 22 in a sixth loss from seven Suns road games.

The results left Oklahoma City and San Antonio pushing each other for the Western Conference’s top seed, the Lakers assessing Doncic’s fitness after a rare off-night, and the Hornets and Suns tracking important shooting records, adding more layers to an NBA season shaped by form streaks, injuries and long-range accuracy.