Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic will miss the remainder of the regular NBA season with a hamstring injury.
The Slovenian, 37, had played himself into contention for the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award during an outstanding March in which he became only the 10th player in history to score 600 points in a single month.
But he will miss the final five regular season games after suffering a grade two strain of his left hamstring during Thursday’s heavy loss to Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers have not provided a timetable for Doncic’s return after he had a scan on Friday – just two weeks before the start of the NBA play-offs on 18 April.
Doncic is the NBA’s leading scorer this season with 2143 points for an unequalled average of 33.5 points per game.
However, having been sidelined for four games with a left hamstring strain earlier in the season, and missing two games to return to Slovenia for the birth of his daughter in December, Doncic is set to fall short of the minimum games threshold required to qualify for the NBA’s major end-of-season awards.
Doncic, who is one appearance short of the 65 required, will apply for an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge”, according to his agent Bill Duffy.
“This season, Luka Doncic has performed at a historic level, leading the league in scoring, carrying the Lakers to third place in the Western Conference and placing himself in the middle of one of the most tightly contested MVP races in memory,” Duffy told ESPN.
“To ensure Luka’s incredible accomplishments this season are rightly honoured and he can be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards, we intend to apply for an ‘Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge’ to the 65-game rule.”
Doncic was named March’s player of the month following 13 consecutive 30-point performances which helped the Lakers to 13 wins in 14 games prior to the defeat by Thunder.
Rookie Flagg makes history in defeat
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Cooper Flagg became the first teenager in NBA history to reach 50 points in a game – but that was not enough to earn the Dallas Mavericks victory against the Orlando Magic.
Flagg, 19, scored 51 points – including 24 in the fourth quarter – to surpass his previous career high of 49 in January.
But the 138-127 loss brought Dallas’ 14th consecutive home defeat.
“It’s always fun getting into that type of mode,” Flagg said.
“The basket feels big. But I like to win. That was my main focus. It’s hard for me to fully enjoy myself out there when we’re down 20, down 10, down 15, for the majority of the game.”
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