Lakers’ Luka Doncic Update Leaves More Questions Than Answers Ahead of Game 1

Heading into the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers are considered heavy underdogs against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

With the Lakers underdogs, much as they were in the first round against the Houston Rockets, the team will hope superstar guard Luka Doncic can return to the floor and perhaps improve Los Angeles’ chances of pulling off what would be a historic series upset.

Luka Doncic Ruled Out for Game 1 vs. Thunder

As expected, Doncic has officially been ruled out for Game 1 of this series, which gets underway on Tuesday at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

Lakers' injury report for Game 1: pic.twitter.com/waFwQ9t4B2
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) May 4, 2026

It remains to be seen when or if Doncic will be able to play in this series, as there’s still no update on his status, according to Lakers head coach JJ Redick.

“I don’t have any updates on Luka,” Redick said after Lakers practice on Monday.

Although Redick doesn’t have any new updates on Doncic, the league’s leading scorer was seen getting up shots from beyond the arc after practice, which is a good sign that he is making some progress, even if it isn’t significant.

Luka Doncic, getting up shots Monday. When asked about his availability for Game 1, JJ Redick said, “no update.” pic.twitter.com/UZBw9x2E9R
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 4, 2026

There have been many assumptions and educated guesses about when Doncic might return in this series, with Dr. Jesse Morse being the latest to chime in, saying the earliest the injured Lakers superstar can return is Game 4 on May 11.

Luka Doncic

Initially suffered a grade 2 hamstring strain, and reportedly flew to Spain for treatment.

Classically these take 6 to 8 weeks to return to play. With the correct injections and aggressive rehab approach, that sometimes can be safely sped up to 4 to 6 weeks.

He… https://t.co/ZRlPDpPX6J
— Jesse Morse, M.D. (@DrJesseMorse) May 2, 2026

Obviously, that’s not ideal for the Lakers, especially going head-to-head against arguably the best team in the league in this seven-game series. Oklahoma City made easy work of the Phoenix Suns in the first round, as they were the only team in the postseason to pull off a sweep so far.

The Thunder will be rested and ready to play on Tuesday, with some believing the Lakers have no chance of competing with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company in this series.

In fact, as of Monday, the Lakers are 16-point underdogs heading into Game 1 on Tuesday night on the road. That spread is the largest underdog that LeBron James has ever been in his playing career in the NBA, according to Ben Fawkes of Yahoo Sports.

The Los Angeles Lakers are currently 16-point underdogs in Game 1 at the Oklahoma City Thunder.

➡️That would be the biggest underdog LeBron James has ever been in a playoff game in his career

Previous high was +12.5 with Cavs in Game 1 of 2018 NBA Finals (vs. GS)
— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) May 2, 2026

Even though the Lakers are facing long odds and would still likely be underdogs even if Doncic were healthy, anything is possible in the playoffs, which Los Angeles proved in the first round, pulling off the series upset against Houston.

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