Luka Doncic back on the Lakers practice court
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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 14: JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the second half of a game at Mortgage Matchup Center on December 14, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Los Angeles Lakers, all things considered, are in a decent spot as they are up 1-0 in their first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets despite not having Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
While the Lakers wait for injury updates on both players and begin preparing for Game 2 against Houston, the team recently got some bad news. It won’t impact the rest of their series against the Rockets, or their postseason at all, for that matter, but in a stretch that has been overall positive for Los Angeles, luck was not on their side most recently.
The NBA has announced the updated 2026 Draft order after deciding tiebreakers between a few teams, and after the news, the Lakers find themselves on the wrong end of their tiebreaker.
The Lakers and New York Knicks finished with the same 53-29 regular-season record. As the league was deciding the tiebreaker for mainly teams set to draft in the lottery, they also announced tiebreakers between teams further down the order, like with L.A. and New York.
However, it was the Lakers that lost out, as the Knicks won the tiebreaker and will draft 24th, with Los Angeles now picking 25th overall in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft.
“Lakers lose tiebreaker to Knicks, will pick 25th,” team insider Dan Woike wrote in a post on X, confirmed the NBA’s draft order announcement.
Los Angeles doesn’t have a super strong recent draft history, but as the team is going into the offseason with a ton of questions, including the uncertain future of LeBron James, the impending free agency of Reaves, and how to build around Doncic, having a pick just a bit higher would have been good both in terms of evaluating prospects or using that pick as a trade asset.
Still, with the 2026 draft class expected to be one of the best in recent memory, the chances of the Lakers landing a talented prospect remain high.
The Lakers will still be without Doncic and Austin Reaves for Game 2, as well as the foreseeable future, at least until the team offers an update on both.
However, despite not having the two, James led Los Angeles to a Game 1 victory with some help from the supporting cast, specifically Deandre Ayton and Luke Kennard.
“He displayed great leadership throughout,” head coach JJ Redick said of James postgame. “Just a fantastic overall game from him, and he gave us all he had on the defensive end. I mean, he really exerted himself on both ends, and that’s what the playoffs are.”
What helped the Lakers was Kevin Durant missing the game due to a knee injury, and his status for Game 2 remains in question, according to the latest reports.
Los Angeles is still the underdog in the series as long as Doncic and Reaves remain out. Rumors have been swirling about one or both of them coming back at some point in the series, but that would only be possible if the Lakers make it to a Game 6 or 7.
For now, though, they are in the driver’s seat, and a win in Game 2 would only further their chances of getting past the first round and getting their two stars back. Both Doncic and Reaves were seen at the Lakers’ practice on Monday, and until the team offers an update on them, their status remains the biggest storyline in the series.
Luka Doncic back on the Lakers practice court
The Lakers vs Rockets Game 2 tips off at 7:30 pm PST on Tuesday, April 21, and will be live on NBC and Peacock.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
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