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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers makes a slam dunk against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers is not expected to return in the team’s first-round series against the Houston Rockets, despite the star now slowly ramping up for an eventual comeback from his hamstring strain.

While the previous hope was that the Lakers could extend their series against the Rockets to get Doncic or Austin Reaves back, they are now firmly in the driver’s seat in the first round, up 2-0 with the chance to take a three-game lead over Houston in Game 3 on Friday night.

With that, the Lakers appear to be erring on the side of caution with a Doncic return. While Reaves appears to be nearing his playoff debut, the Slovenian star looks to be staying sidelined, at least for the time being, according to the latest update.

Lakers Get New Luka Doncic Injury Return Timeline

Officially, Doncic remains out with his hamstring strain and is still without a direct return timeline. Per Shams Charania of ESPN, he is not expected to play in the Lakers-Rockets first-round series; however, a return in the second round, assuming Los Angeles advances, has not yet been ruled out.

According to Tim McMahon, speaking on The Hoop Collective Podcast, Doncic could very well come back for the Lakers if they end up playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder in round two of the playoffs.

“Yeah, Luka, I think is still probably more on a next round (addition),” he said on Thursday night, speaking on a potential Doncic return at some point for the Lakers in the postseason. “By the way, that next round would almost certainly be against Oklahoma City, and do you know the last superstar to send the Thunder home in the playoffs?”

Doncic was the answer, as the Dallas Mavericks in 2024 knocked out the Thunder in the second round. Still, that potential series remains a ways away, and if the Lakers advance, even with Doncic, they would face a major uphill battle against Oklahoma City, just by looking at their previous game logs against the defending champions.

That second round series would start on May 4, and could last up to two weeks, giving Doncic even more time to make a full injury recovery.

Still, back to the looming return of the Slovenian star, he remains out for the time being and isn’t expected to play in the first round against Houston.

As Lakers head coach JJ Redick said before Game 2, while Doncic is ‘preparing to begin his return to play progression,’ there is still no timeline for an official return.

Major Austin Reaves Injury Update Emerges Before Game 3

While a Doncic return, whenever it happens, could be seen as a bigger story for the Lakers in the playoffs, signs point to them getting back Reaves sooner rather than later.

Like his backcourt teammate, updates on Reaves have been somewhat minimal, but before Game 3 of the Lakers-Rockets series, the shooting guard was upgraded to questionable for the contest.

Reaves has been out since early April with an oblique strain, but after his injury status was upgraded, he appears to be eyeing a return as soon as Friday night.

According to McMahon, Brian Windhorst, and Tim Bontemps of the Hoop Collective podcast, Reaves is expected to make his return and play in Game 3 against Houston.

The 26-year-old had been ramping up for a return, but until his status on the Lakers’ injury report changed, it was previously uncertain when he would come back. However, now that he is officially listed as questionable, the ESPN insiders believe Reaves is set to make his playoff debut in Game 3 for Los Angeles.

“Austin Reaves is gonna play Friday, barring some (pregame) setback,” Bontemps said.

The Lakers are currently up 2-0 over the Rockets, and with a Game 3 win, would nearly cement themselves as moving on to the second round. Official Doncic and Reaves injury returns have yet to be announced, but the longer Los Angeles can keep their season alive, the more likely it is that one or both will come back.

Game 3 tips off on Friday, April 24, at 7:30 pm PST, and will be live on Amazon Prime Video.