The Lakers are down after the regular season-ending injuries to star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

But they’re not out. 

Already having clinched a playoff spot before Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique strain) suffered their regular season-ending injuries during last Thursday’s blowout road loss to the Thunder, the Lakers are guaranteed to play beyond Sunday’s regular season finale against the Jazz.

How much further they’ll play beyond the first four games of their first-round playoff series, and whether they’ll extend the season to give Doncic and Reaves enough time to return to the floor in the postseason, will depend on several factors.

The main one being whether they can find the right formulas and game plans to win during life without their star guards.

“We have to be diligent on the offensive end with our screening and still want to just have a paint-touch mentality,” coach JJ Redick said ahead of Sunday’s loss to the Mavericks. “Got to put guys in a position to do that, but our screening’s going to be a big part of that, our effort offense as well. We’ll play lineups that haven’t played together probably all season. Got to crash, got to run.”

The loss to the Mavericks, in which they scored 128 points but allowed the Mavericks to score 134 points in their first home win in over two months, showed there’s progress for the Lakers to make.

And with LeBron James missing Tuesday’s home game against the Thunder because of left foot injury management, in addition to Marcus Smart sitting out of the matchup for his eighth consecutive missed game because of a right ankle contusion, significant progress won’t be able to be made until Thursday’s road game against the Warriors at the earliest. 

Here are the factors the Lakers need to hone in on to maximize the team without Doncic and Reaves

The possession battle

Doncic and Reaves combined to average 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 6.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Lakers during the regular season.

There isn’t a player, or even a collection of a few players, who can replicate or replace the statistical production the team’s star duo produced on a nightly basis.

But what the Lakers can do is improve even more on the margins. 

The Lakers have been one of the league’s better teams this season at winning the possession battle, but they can be even better. 

Already one of the league’s best teams at getting to the free throw line, a strength of Doncic’s and Reaves’, and not allowing many offensive rebounds or opponent free throws, the biggest way they can give themselves more bites at apple is from better offensive rebounding.

This can be achieved by playing bigger lineups more often, which they did against the Mavericks when they used Maxi Kleber as the 4 alongside either Deandre Ayton or Jaxson Hayes.

They have an above-average offensive rebounding rate when Kleber and Hayes share the floor, and become an elite offensive rebounding team when Kleber and Ayton are on the court together.

Transition defense

Getting stops has been an up-and-down challenge for the Lakers.

And a depleted offense won’t make things easier defensively.

But the Lakers can help themselves by consistently getting back on defense with more urgency compared to how they did against the Mavericks.

Their 12 turnovers, a very low mark, weren’t the problem. But the 21 points they allowed off turnovers made it a game of catch up.

Slow down

The Lakers are going to need all of the easy points they can get. 

But they also need to be strategic with how often they push the ball up the floor in transition offensively.

James is a one-man fastbreak, third in the league in transition points per game. 

And they have multiple players besides James, including Hayes, Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura, who thrive offensively when getting up and down the floor.

But without the proper ball-handlers to feed them, the Lakers need to be careful with how often they push.

Mistakes in transition not only would prevent them from having offensive rebounding opportunities, but will spread their defense thin.

DALLAS — Lakers star Luka Doncic will seek special medical treatment in Europe for his left hamstring strain with the hopes he’ll be able to return to the court quicker, his agency shared on Sunday night.

Bill Duffy of WME Basketball, who’s Doncic’s agent, first told ESPN the news after the Lakers’ 134-128 loss to the Mavericks, which was the Lakers’ first game since Doncic and fellow star guard Austin Reaves suffered their regular season-ending injuries during the team’s blowout loss to the Thunder on Thursday. 

Doncic suffered the hamstring injury during the third quarter of the loss, with an MRI on Friday revealing a Grade 2 strain,  which typically comes with a recovery timeline of 3-6 weeks. 

InStreetClothes, which is an NBA injury database run by certified athletic trainer Jeff Stotts, stated that the average time lost for the type of injury Doncic suffered is about 35 days. 

The Lakers didn’t provide a timeline for Doncic’s expected return to the court. 

Three weeks from when Doncic suffered the hamstring injury was April 23, which would be around Games 3 or 4 of the Lakers’ first-round playoff matchup.

A timeline closer to 35 days, let alone six weeks, would likely take Doncic out of the Lakers’ entire first-round playoff series, even if it lasted seven games.

“I just know that he’s gonna do everything he can to try to be back,” coach JJ Redick said. “I talked to him Friday, I talked to him again [on Saturday], I talked to him again [Sunday] morning. He’s going to go through all the necessary things to be back at some point, and it’s our job again to extend the season so both those guys can get back.”

Redick said internal medical data didn’t show any signs of overuse for Doncic or Reaves, who’s sidelined with a Grade 2 left oblique strain, before their injuries. 

Both grabbed at their respective injured areas during the first quarter of Thursday’s game but played through the third quarter before Doncic left the matchup with his hamstring injury and Reaves was subbed out. 

“As a coach, you go on the information you have,” Redick said.

“[Reaves] was medically cleared. When Austin came back, I asked directly, I thought he was hurt. [I was told], ‘No, he’s medically cleared.’ The group wanted to go for it in the second half. Talked about it at halftime. And I think for both those guys, the nature of playing heavy minutes, that’s certainly a part of any equation when you’re trying to manage workloads.

“We also rely on the tracking data, and we’re looking at that after every game. And there have been a few times this year where it’s gone away from the standard deviation of whatever their baseline is, and we make the proper adjustments. There was nothing leading into that game that would suggest either those guys were ‘running hot’ as we call it.”

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Thursday night at Paycom Center went from bad to worse for the Lakers.

Star guard Luka Doncic left what was turning into a blowout loss during the third quarter because of a left hamstring injury.

Doncic was hobbling after a drive attempt against Thunder wing Jalen Williams midway through the third, limping to stay off his left leg before laying down underneath the basket by the Thunders’ bench. 

He appeared to aggravate a left hamstring ailment that he was dealing with in the first half but tried to play through.

Doncic walked off the court under his own power before going back to the locker room.

More to come on this story. 

The LA Lakers and Indiana Pacers lock horns in a regular-season game at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday, with tipoff at 4:30 p.m. ET. It is the second and final matchup of the season between the two teams, with the Lakers winning the first encounter 128-117 at home on Mar. 6.

The Lakers have won nine of their last 10 games and are in third place in the Western Conference standings with a 46-26 record. Meanwhile, the Pacers are in 15th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 16-56 record.

LA Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers Preview, Starting Lineups Tonight, Betting Tips and Game Prediction

LA Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers Betting Tips and Odds

Moneyline: Lakers (-675), Pacers (+490)

Spread: Lakers -13.5 (-111), Pacers +13.5 (-111)

Total over/under o/u: Lakers o235.5 (-105), Pacers u235.5 (-116)

Editor’s note: Odds might change closer to tipoff.

Betting Tips

• Luka Doncic is expected to score over 32.5 points.
• Pascal Siakam is expected to record over 6.5 rebounds.
• Austin Reaves is expected to record over 5.5 assists.

LA Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers Preview

The Lakers suffered a 113-110 loss against the Detroit Pistons in their previous outing on Monday. Luka Doncic continued his red-hot scoring streak and dropped 32 points on the road. Doncic became the first player in NBA history to record nine consecutive games with 30 or more points.

LeBron James missed out on a triple-double by a solitary rebound, but he went scoreless in the first half before finishing with 12 points on 10 shots. Austin Reaves had 24 points and made a clutch basket to give the Lakers a one-point lead in the final minute of the game. The Lakers played without Marcus Smart and Rui Hachimura and might be without the duo again.

Meanwhile, the Pacers are coming off a 128-126 win over the Orlando Magic in their previous outing. Indiana was finally able to stitch together a solid game all across the board, with Pascal Siakam leading the charge with 37 points. The Pacers shot 54.9%, including 45.7% from beyond the arc, and committed just seven turnovers.

Jay Huff was the only Indiana starter not to score in double digits. Jarrace Walker chipped in with 20 points, Aaron Nesmith had 19 points, and Andrew Nembhard scored 13 points and dished out 14 assists.

LA Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers Starting Lineups Tonight

LA Lakers starting lineup

PG: Luka Doncic, SG: Austin Reaves, SF: Jake LaRavia, PF: LeBron James, C: Deandre Ayton.

Indiana Pacers starting lineup

PG: Andrew Nembhard, SG: Aaron Nesmith, SF: Pascal Siakam, PF: Jarrace Walker, C: Jay Huff.

LA Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers Prediction

Expect the Lakers to crush the Pacers, with Doncic extending his blistering run of 30-point games to 10. Indiana is likely to fight hard in the first half before the Lakers put their foot down and pull away in the second half.

Final score prediction: Lakers win 122-110.