The Los Angeles Lakers suffered another setback Saturday against the LA Clippers, already shorthanded without starters Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Deandre Ayton. The situation worsened at halftime when superstar point guard Luka Doncic exited the game and did not return, leaving the Purple & Gold scrambling to stay competitive amid mounting adversity.

The initial shock soon gave way to clarity when it was revealed that the Slovenian suffered a left leg contusion that forced him out. His absence hit the Purple and Gold hard as they fell 103-88 to the lowly Clippers and looked directionless without their starting guard. The loss underscored how badly they need him back. But first, how did it happen?

What exactly is Luka Doncic’s injury?

According to several reports, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has suffered a left leg contusion. Although it’s hard to point out the exact moment Luka Doncic suffered this injury during Saturday’s matchup, it was at some point during the second quarter of the game. After which, he went out during halftime and could not continue further, which was a huge bummer.

That’s because in the 20 minutes he was on the court against the Clippers, the 26-year-old looked promising. He put up 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists before exiting the game because of the contusion; following that, the Lakers suffered a humbling defeat, which could probably have been avoided had he played the entire game. So, what did the Lakers say postgame about this blow?

What has the Lakers revealed about Luka Doncic’s injury?

Even though several hours have passed since Luka Doncic left the Intuit Dome with a leg contusion, there has yet to be any major update from the Lakers. The only update until now has come from their head coach and the point guard’s teammates after the game, when they didn’t themselves know much about the extent of the damage caused to Doncic because of the injury.

“I saw him hobbling towards the end of the first half. He came to me at halftime and said he couldn’t go,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

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Following this, he was pressed by reporters to give them more details about his player’s status, to which he simply stated that he had “no other information” about the injury and was himself awaiting the presser to end to have a word with the medical staff.

Meanwhile, the five-time All-NBA guard’s teammates, LeBron James, tried to keep things positive, suggesting that while Doncic’s status is yet to be revealed, even if he misses some time, the Purple & Gold will try to stay competitive.

“No matter what the circumstances are, it’s still next man up,” James said.

“We’re all professionals. We all got to stay ready. So, obviously, it’s very challenging circumstances for our ball club tonight, but I think we played extremely hard, we followed our keys. We just came up short.”

While King James tried to remain optimistic about his team’s two-game winning streak getting snapped and Doncic going down, along with other injuries, there’s still a lot of concern in and around the historic franchise. Now the biggest question is when will Los Angeles’ star point guard return following this blow?

When will Luka Doncic return?

This isn’t the first time Luka Doncic has suffered a leg contusion. Just earlier this season, in late October, the Slovenian superstar dealt with a similar injury because of which he missed three games. Now, even though there’s yet to be an official word from the Lakers or Doncic, if this injury isn’t a serious one, which seems to be likely, we can expect the 26-year-old to stay on the sidelines.

This indicates that he might miss two to three games. So, there’s a high chance that we might not see Luka take the court until the Lakers host the Pistons on the 30th of December. Nonetheless, this is just mere speculation right now, based on his injury history, as we’ll have to wait until the Lakers announce an update on their superstar.