Los Angeles Lakers has a huge mountain to climb if they want to be in the NBA Conference finals. Currently they are playing against defending NBA Champions Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference semi-finals, trailing 1-0 in the best of seven series of matches, playing tonight (already Friday at 3:30 AM CEST, 2:30 BST). In the meantime, Luka Doncic is watching the matches from the bench, as he is still not fit to play.
In the best case scenario, the Slovenian would arrive in time for Game 4 of the Conference semi-finals (on May 12), but that also seems too optimistic. Doncic suffered a hamstring strain on April 2, and according to sports doctor Jesse Morse (via Basket News), Doncic still has at least 1-2 weeks to recover, which will almost surely mean that he wouldn't be fit until a potential Conference final. If Thunder defeats Lakers (which also sounds likely), it would mean the end of the season for Doncic.
Doncic returned to Los Angeles after a few days in Madrid, where he went to receive platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, a treatment to speed up recovery not allowed in the US, with the permission by his team's doctors. He says every day he feels better and is able to run again, but "It's very frustrating. To see what my teammates are doing, I'm very proud of them. But it's been very tough just to see it and watch them play".