Luka Doncic conceded he was still building up his fitness after missing the Los Angeles Lakers' defeat to the Denver Nuggets. (More NBA News)
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 without바카라 웹사이트LeBron James,바카라 웹사이트Rui Hachimura and바카라 웹사이트Jaxson Hayes, who all left their four-game trip early to undergo treatment back in Los Angeles.바카라 웹사이트
Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent and Trey Jemison III바카라 웹사이트were all also out against the Nuggets, a defeat that saw them drop to second in the Western Conference.바카라 웹사이트
"Obviously, not there yet," Doncic had said after scoring 45 points in the Lakers' loss to the바카라 웹사이트Milwaukee Bucks바카라 웹사이트on Thursday when asked if his play met his expectations.바카라 웹사이트
"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 return바카라 웹사이트home to host a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday against the바카라 웹사이트Phoenix Suns바카라 웹사이트and바카라 웹사이트San Antonio Spurs.
They then have바카라 웹사이트another back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday against the Nuggets and the Bucks.바카라 웹사이트
Austin Reaves바카라 웹사이트racked 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.바카라 웹사이트
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.바카라 웹사이트
"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.바카라 웹사이트
He tied the game with 48 seconds left, with Lakers center Christian Koloko put in a tough position to try and guard the Serb바카라 웹사이트with the game on the line.바카라 웹사이트
Following the game, Lakers head coach JJ Redick took the blame for putting Koloko on Jokic in that situation.바카라 웹사이트
"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.
"That's not a knock on [Koloko] but I just kind of put him in a tough spot knowing that Jokic was going to go quick."
