The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to pick up a 2-0 series lead over the Houston Rockets tonight as they host Game 2 of their first-round playoff series at the Crypto.com Arena.
Franchise superstar Luka Doncic is unfortunately expected to miss the entire series after a late-season hamstring injury. Doncic spent the last few weeks in Europe to try and find recovery methods that could accelerate his return timeline, returning to Los Angeles on Monday.
Doncic returns to the Lakers sideline in street clothes as injured players do. He will now be cheering the team alongside injured backcourt star Austin Reaves. However, his return to Crypto.com Arena led the Lakers to make a heartfelt gesture to recognize the incredible season Doncic had with the team.
During a first-quarter timeout, the Lakers presented Doncic with the awards he earned for leading the NBA in scoring for the 2025-26 season (33.5 PPG) and winning Player of the Month in March.
This is the second scoring title of Doncic's career, winning his first one in 2023-24 with the Dallas Mavericks. That season also saw Doncic make his first NBA Finals appearance, so the Slovenian guard will hope lightning can strike twice so he can now lead the Lakers to a deep postseason run.
Doncic averaged 33.5 points, 8.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game over this season.
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The 27-year-old guard was also awarded the trophy for his incredible performances in March, averaging 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals in 16 games.
These awards highlight the form Doncic had found himself in at the end of the season, making himself a late-season MVP candidate before injury ruined his push. Despite winning an appeal with the NBA to keep himself eligible for end-of-season awards despite playing just 64 games, Luka was snubbed from the finalists for this season's MVP.
Doncic is widely expected to return to the All-NBA First Team for his contributions this season, but he'll feel hard done by the missed opportunity to win MVP, and potentially missed opportunity to compete in the postseason if the Lakers can't eliminate the Rockets without him in the first round.
