Lakers rule out Luka Doncic for remainder of regular season with hamstring injury

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doncic-luka/pQ4ZBK0o/"]Doncic[/a], 27, tweaked his hamstring during the team's 139-96 loss to the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/oklahoma-city-thunder/0fHFHEWD/"]Oklahoma City Thunder[/a] on Thursday, not playing in the remainder of the game. [/p][embed guid="0c72a47e-c418-4085-8211-4dc722b1c171" url="https://x.com/BleacherReport/status/2039922527586115797?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]His agent, Bill Duffy, announced that they will be [b]"applying for an 'Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge' to the 65-game rule"[/b] so that Doncic can maintain his status in the MVP race.[/p][p]Doncic had missed one game after being suspended upon receiving his 16th technical foul on the season and missed another couple of games back in December after the birth of his daughter. Since he'll miss the rest of the regular season, Doncic will finish with 64 games played, falling just one short of being eligible for awards.[/p][p]He currently averages the league-best 33.5 points on top of 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-lakers/ngegZ8bg/"]Lakers[/a] currently have five games left in the regular season and sit in third place in the Western Conference with a 50-27 record, sitting just one game ahead of the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/denver-nuggets/CxvW27TI/"]Denver Nuggets[/a] (49-28). [/p][p]Their next five games are: @ [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dallas-mavericks/YouS3mEC/"]Dallas Mavericks[/a] (April 5th), vs. Thunder (April 7th), @ [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/golden-state-warriors/SxUtXqch/"]Golden State Warriors[/a] (April 9th), then two home games against the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/phoenix-suns/M1Gy2pra/"]Phoenix Suns[/a] (April 10th) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/utah-jazz/hGuCX5Su/"]Utah Jazz[/a] (April 12th). [/p][embed guid="0a651a14-480e-41c1-a163-550fb1be40ba" url="https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/2040197010238660644?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]