Details LEAKED From Inside the Lakers...

Details have just leaked from inside the

Lakers as a reporter has just revealed

the upcoming status of Luka Dončić in

the round two series versus the Oklahoma

City Thunder. In today's video, we're

going to talk about what this report is,

the implications it has on Luka Dončić,

and if and when we can expect him to be

back on the basketball court. And

welcome to Lakers Digest. My name is

Hunter Pitcairn. We cover everything

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So anyway,

let's talk about the matter at hand here

and give an injury update surrounding

Luka Dončić. Of course, ironically, it

was against the Oklahoma City Thunder on

April 2nd, I believe, early April, about

a month ago,

when him and Austin Reaves

in the same game both went down with

injuries.

Luka Dončić suffered a grade two

hamstring strain, and then Austin Reaves

suffering a left oblique injury. I

believe they also called that a strain

as well. So Austin, of course, came back

in game five against Houston, played in

game six, and he is slated to start

again for game one Tuesday night. But

Luka Dončić, this is the report we just

got in regards to him. So Shams Charania

reporting for ESPN that he's still

working his way back from the hamstring

strain. Okay, well, it was April 2nd.

That's what I thought off the top of my

head. And then also saying on Inside the

NBA that Dončić will remain out to start

the Western Conference semi-final series

against the Thunder. The Lakers are

reportedly evaluating him on a

week-to-week basis, but one source told

Charania that is quote still a slow path

on his recovery. And also adding that

Luka is quote doing more and more on the

court, but he has yet to begin full

contact workouts or running at full

speed. So of course, this is not

necessarily the news you want to hear if

you are a Laker fan because this is kind

of symbolizing that Luka Dončić is

definitely not playing Tuesday, and it

looks like he might not be playing

really at all anytime soon, which of

course is definitely a shame with all

things considered. It is an uphill

battle for the Lakers to begin with, and

to be without your best player and one

of the best players in the NBA is going

to be a uphill battle for the Los

Angeles Lakers. And we still don't

necessarily know when Luka Dončić is in

fact going to be back on the court. So

the good news is they have Austin Reaves

back. They still got that man LeBron

James who knows a thing or two about

winning in the postseason. And the

Lakers are all they got right now.

They're going to be a massive underdog.

They're 15 and a half point underdogs

versus the Oklahoma City Thunder for

game one. I'm expecting them to be

double digit dogs in a lot of these

games against the Thunder unless they

kind of prove otherwise. But look, they

were also underdogs against the Houston

Rockets as well in all but one game, and

that one game they actually lost, which

was game five. So

but that's going to bring us to our next

point here. Can the Lakers strike

lightning in a bottle twice against the

Thunder and figure out a way to win?

Now, the good thing for the Lakers is,

and I don't not I'm not someone who

roots for injuries or anything like

that, so don't get it twisted. But Mark

Daigneault did say about Jalen Williams

on Saturday that he is quote chipping

away at his rehab and doing a good job.

So Jalen Williams also suffering a

hamstring strain. He suffered one that

was a grade one. Luka's was a grade two,

which is not as bad as a grade two. So

Jalen Williams was less significant than

the one Luka suffered. Jalen Williams

got hurt in game two against the Phoenix

Suns. The Thunder still found a way to

sweep them anyway, so it didn't matter

for them. But they're going to be

without their second best player, so

that's definitely something to monitor

for the Los Angeles Lakers as well. So

the Thunder are not going to be at full

100% strength either. So

I guess it's a bit of an eye for an eye

to an extent. But the thing that makes

the Thunder such a good team is they are

deep. They have a lot of really good

players on this team, and they can kind

of put legitimately 11 players out there

that they feel super confident in to go

out there and give them real minutes. So

of course, it all starts with Shai

Gilgeous-Alexander. They have Chet

Holmgren,

Jalen Williams, those are their top

three guys, but they're not going to

have JayDub. They still have Cason

Wallace. They have Alex Caruso, AJ

Mitchell, Isaiah Hartenstein, Isaiah Joe

who seemingly makes 8 million threes

every time he plays the Lakers. They

have Aaron Wiggins. They have Jared

McCain, that's a new piece they got at

the NBA trade deadline. So this is not a

team that is short of players. They have

the other Jalen Williams as well. So

they have a lot of guys that they can

put out there on the basketball court

that they feel pretty confident in can

give them good minutes. So how can the

Lakers prepare to go up against a team

like the Oklahoma City Thunder? So this

is from stats from game six. Just wanted

to show you guys what the Lakers were

able to do the last time we saw them out

on the court in winning in six games,

winning game six to close out the series

against the Houston Rockets. So

of course, the health of Austin Reaves

is going to be super important in this

one. And

hopefully he can get close to if not

100% because they're going to need him

to play some really damn good

basketball.

And this is probably going to be the

toughest playoff series that Austin

Reaves has ever played in in his life

because the Oklahoma City Thunder, they

have so many ball hawks defensively and

guys that just get up after it. Someone

else I didn't mention, Lu Dort, who

might be the dirtiest player in the NBA,

so got to watch out for that, too. But

that is somebody as well who's a great

defensive player.

The Thunder play extremely aggressive,

and the Lakers need to match that

physicality and force the refs to call

the game a certain way cuz that's how

the Thunder play, right? You got to

fight fire with fire in this one.

They're going to get up, press 94 ft,

and they're going to try to get into the

dribbling lanes and trying to get a lot

of steals. What the Thunder do really

well is they generate a lot of

turnovers, and they do not turn over the

basketball. They draw a lot of fouls,

and they do not foul a lot, which that's

a bit controversial. They're going to

get away with some BS calls in this one

like they do in every single game they

play in. But if you're the Lakers, you

need to come with that same energy cuz

the Thunder, this is a team that will