The Los Angeles Lakers ruled guard Luka Doncic out of Wednesday night’s game against the crosstown Clippers with back tightness.
Los Angeles is holding out Doncic on the second night of a back-to-back. He scored 41 points in 37 minutes Tuesday in the Lakers’ 136-129 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. He also added nine assists, five rebounds and a blocked shot as the Lakers (3-1) suffered their first loss of the season.
Doncic, 27, started each of the team’s first four games.
The Slovenian star leads the NBA with 36.0 points per game while averaging 8.3 assists and 6.8 rebounds. He is shooting 48.4% from the field and 39.6% from 3-point range. He entered Wednesday leading the league with 5.3 3-pointers made and 13.3 3-pointers attempted per game.
This is the Lakers’ first back-to-back of the 2026-27 campaign. They had played every other day since opening their season on Oct. 21.
