On the final game day of the regular season, the Lone Rangers easily beat the Spurs, but because the Warriors also won, they were also helpless to rank fourth in the West. There was also a very bad situation in this game, that is, Doncic was injured in the third quarter of the game!
In the second half of the third quarter of the game, Doncic suffered an injury during a breakout and then returned to the locker room for inspection. The Lone Ranger officially announced that Doncic had a strain on his left calf and that the game would not return. Although Woj reported that the Lone Ranger expected Doncic's injury not to be serious, the recovery cycle of the strain is really not short!
According to jeff Stotts, the average number of days NBA players who have been absent from the game due to a calf strain this season is 16 days, of which the median absence is 17 days and the shortest is 3 days. The Lone Rangers had previously dealt with Nilikina's calf strain, when Nilikina was sidelined for 12 days due to a right calf strain!
This season's playoff matchup has been decided, and the Lone Ranger will face the Jazz in the first round, which is actually very unfavorable for them. If Doncic is there, then he can seize Gobert's weakness to play, but now Doncic may miss the game because of a strain, even if he may not miss all the first round games, it should have a big impact, so can the lone rangers in this lineup really threaten the Jazz?
For the Lone Rangers, it is indeed a bit unacceptable that the superstar who injured the team on the last day of the season is not sure how the team will adjust next. If Doncic's injury can recover within a week, the team is still very competitive, otherwise it is really difficult to take advantage of the first round!