04/26/25 01:40:00
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04/26 01:36 CDT Doncic struggles through stomach trouble on lackluster 17-point
night as Lakers fall behind T-wolves
Doncic struggles through stomach trouble on lackluster 17-point night as Lakers
fall behind T-wolves
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) --- Last spring, Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks past the
Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals with a series-ending
victory at Target Center.
This trip to Minnesota for Doncic in the NBA playoffs is off to an awfully
rough start.
Doncic managed to play 40 minutes with a stomach illness in Minnesota's 116-104
victory over the Lakers on Friday night in Game 3 of the first-round series,
finishing with just 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting with a team-high five
turnovers.
Doncic, who had eight assists and seven rebounds, was clearly not himself from
the start. Lakers coach J.J. Redick said Doncic was vomiting all afternoon
before the late game that tipped off at 8:54 p.m.
"He hasn't been feeling well for the last 24 hours. I don't know how much he
slept last night. He didn't feel well last night," Redick said. "He was really
under the weather."
Doncic didn't start the second half, checking in during the first minute of the
third quarter. A little after that, he had the ball poked out of his hands by
Rudy Gobert in the backcourt, beginning a fast break the Timberwolves finished
with a three-point play thanks to a foul on Doncic during one of several sloppy
sequences for the five-time All-NBA pick whose shocking trade from the
Mavericks to the Lakers was the biggest story in a season full of twists and
turns throughout the league.
"He gave everything he had tonight. He played 39, 40 minutes. He did everything
he could do to help us win. We had opportunities," said Austin Reaves, who had
20 points for the Lakers. "We just couldn't get it done."
Doncic was receiving postgame treatment and not made available to the media.
The Target Center crowd that watched Doncic dismantle Minnesota's
league-leading defense for Dallas in the conference finals last spring was
delighted to see him struggle. He didn't have much opportunity to play the
villain, struggling to create clean shots and hardly talking much trash.
Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota's ace defender, made it tough on Doncic to both
shoot and handle the ball. Anthony Edwards threw down a dunk over him in the
third quarter.
"I was just picking him up every time. I couldn't tell that he was going
through anything," said McDaniels, who scored 30 points for his career playoffs
high.
The Wolves wisely hunted Doncic on the other end of the floor, too, trying to
exploit the weaknesses for a player whose defense is not an asset on a night
when he clearly didn't have all of his strength to begin with.
So what does this mean for the rest of the series now that the Lakers are
trailing 2-1 and Doncic has only one full day to rest before an afternoon
tip-off for Game 4?
"Hopefully, whatever's going on, he feels better on Sunday," Redick said. "I'm
not a doctor."
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