Luka Dončić is going back to work with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he’s likely back to full speed as well.
Coach JJ Redick says Doncic probably won’t have a minutes restriction this week after his deliberate start to his Lakers tenure before the All-Star break.
When the Lakers host Charlotte on Wednesday night, Doncic will play in his third game back following a six-and-a-half week absence due to a strained left calf suffered on Christmas while playing for the Dallas Mavericks.
The Slovenian superstar played in both of the Lakers’ final two games before the All-Star break, but he logged only 47 total minutes while the Lakers eased him back into competition. Doncic then got several days of recovery while the rest of the NBA’s top players convened in San Francisco for the All-Star Game.
“He’ll be fine,” Redick told reporters Tuesday night after the Lakers’ first practice back following the break. “That extra five, six days of All-Star break was good for him. His minutes will be up [Wednesday], and I don’t think that there’s going to be any sort of restrictions going forward.”
The Lakers acquired Doncic from the Mavs on Feb. 2 in a seismic trade that sent Anthony Davis to Dallas.
LeBron James is listed as questionable to face the Hornets after he missed the final game before the All-Star break and then sat out the midseason exhibition, ending his 20-year run of All-Star participation. The 40-year-old James is dealing with a sore left foot and ankle.
The Lakers and Hornets are returning from the break earlier than every other NBA team because they are playing a game that was rescheduled last month because of the catastrophic wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area. Redick and his family lost their home in the Pacific Palisades blaze.
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Los Angeles returns from the break with three games in three cities over four days, playing in Portland on Thursday and Denver on Saturday.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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