Luka Doncic's status for the Los Angeles Lakers' Monday night game against the Atlanta Hawks is still unknown after he sat out Sunday with lower back tightness. The matchup is on the schedule, but whether the 27-year-old will be on the floor is the first question hanging over it.
That uncertainty lands on a player who has been carrying a heavy load. Doncic has played in nine of the Los Angeles Lakers' first 11 games and has averaged 40.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game, production that helps explain why the Lakers are 9-2 and leading the Western Conference.
The timing matters because Monday night had been shaping up as one of those games built around star power. The Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta are meeting in Atlanta, and Doncic has a history of playing well against the Atlanta Hawks, so his absence would drain some of the edge from a matchup that otherwise fits the billing of two red-hot teams.
There is also a sharper reason for concern. Doncic was unable to play Sunday against the Pistons, which means the back issue is already interrupting a stretch in which he has been almost constantly on the court. If he cannot go again Monday, the Lakers would have to handle another game without the player who has done much of their scoring and playmaking through the first part of the season.
That is what leaves the game in a holding pattern. The Hawks are still on deck, the arena is still the one where Doncic once dropped a career-high 73 points, and the status of one of the NBA's most productive players is still unresolved. Until that changes, the biggest storyline in Lakers Vs Hawks is not the matchup itself, but whether Doncic is part of it at all.
