Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams is set to return for Monday’s road game vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, who will be without Luka Doncic for a second straight game.
Williams suffered a right hamstring strain Jan. 17 and hasn’t played since. The Thunder removed Williams from the injury report Sunday. He also missed the first month of the season while recovering from wrist surgery.
Doncic, meanwhile, has not played since limping off the court in the second quarter of a win Thursday over the 76ers. He also missed Saturday’s win over the Golden State Warriors. Doncic was eventually diagnosed with a “mild” left hamstring strain, according to Lakers coach JJ Redick.
The Lakers have home games against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and Doncic’s former team, the Dallas Mavericks, on Thursday. The All-Star Game is Sunday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Doncic led all players in All-Star balloting, receiving more than 3.4 million votes to earn an All-Star nod for the sixth time in his eight-year career.
Doncic leads the league in scoring with 32.8 points per game to go with 8.6 assists and 7.8 rebounds. He has missed nine games this season because of various leg injuries, and the Lakers have gone 5-4 in his absence.
Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves have played together in just 10 of the Lakers’ 51 games this season.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.
