'Not there yet', says Doncic after missing Nuggets loss with calf injury

Doncic, who is managing a lingering left calf injury and a sprained right ankle, watched on as the short-handed Lakers were beaten 131-126 by the Nuggets.

The Lakers were already without LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes, who all left their four-game trip early to undergo treatment back in Los Angeles.

Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent and Trey Jemison III were all also out against the Nuggets, a defeat that saw them drop to second in the Western Conference.

"Obviously, not there yet," Doncic had said after scoring 45 points in the Lakers' loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday when asked if his play met his expectations.

"Every day, a little bit more. But still not there. Got to get some things off my body. Get them to feel better and then be ready."

The Lakers return home to host a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday against the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.

They then have another back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday against the Nuggets and the Bucks.

Final pic.twitter.com/WISQlqEyZu

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 15, 2025

Austin Reaves racked up 37 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, despite having a heavy ice wrap on his right wrist and hand after the loss to the Bucks.

And though not on the injury report, Reaves said that the Lakers' recent slump should not deter them from their end goal for the season.

"We were playing good basketball, we had won seven or eight straight or whatever it was," Reaves said. "And we've had some bad luck with injuries and stuff.

"People that are even playing still banged up a little bit. But like I said, nobody feels sorry for us. Everybody's going to want to beat us by 30.

"So, we got to figure out a way to not let that happen and go compete in games. There's no easy way around it. You just got to figure it out."

The Lakers had a great chance to steal a win over the Nuggets, holding a lead with less than a minute left, but Denver superstar Nikola Jokic took matters into his own hands.

He tied the game with 48 seconds left, with Lakers center Christian Koloko put in a tough position to try and guard the Serb with the game on the line.

Following the game, Lakers head coach JJ Redick took the blame for putting Koloko on Jokic in that situation.

"I think the play that Jokic got the and-one, I'll take some ownership of that," Redick said.

"That was a short timeout and I ran on the floor, and then I ran back and didn't have time to really get us the right substitutions and matchups that I would've wanted.