While the OKC Thunder deserve to be elated about their 43-point rout of the third-seeded Lakers Thursday night, Luka Doncic's grueling injury mid-way through the contest should serve as a harrowing reminder that they can't afford to lift up on Jalen Williams' restrictions just yet.
Early on in the third period, the Los Angeles cornerstone abruptly stopped in his tracks while driving the lane and limped over to the sidelines before collapsing to the hardwood in agony.
Doncic eventually mustered up the strength to head back to the locker room, where he was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the contest with a hamstring injury.
It's worth noting that the veteran had been dealing with issues in this area over the last few weeks, as he even popped up on the injury report as recently as their March 27 matchup against the Brooklyn Nets for left hamstring soreness.
Luka Doncic injury reinforces slow approach to Thunder star's recovery
Even before succumbing to the injury during Thursday's lopsided outing against the Thunder, Doncic had his leg tended to in the first half and showed visible signs of on-court discomfort, yet opted to play through it.
Sadly, toughing it out may have proven to be a costly move in the end, as many are starting to fear that this could realistically sideline him for the foreseeable future. Doncic is set to undergo an MRI on Friday to determine the exact severity of his injury.
The reality is, these particular injuries are incredibly tricky to recover from, as flare-ups are quite common -- just ask J-Dub himself, who was forced into two separate, multi-week absences as a result of nagging pain from his right hamstring.
Since his latest return to action, coach Mark Daigneault has clearly been easing him back into the swing of things, keeping him to below a 30-minute threshold in each of his games played.
Impressively enough, despite being held well below his career average in minutes during this recent stretch, Dub still finds himself posting stellar all-around averages of 15.0 points, 5.4 assists, and 4.6 rebounds on 48.3 percent shooting from the floor while logging just 24.5 minutes a night.
Needless to say, fans are eager to see their All-NBA forward play without any limitations as the Thunder gear up for a hopeful title repeat. Frankly, so, too, is the ball club itself, as they've steadily been ramping up his workload with every passing game.
However, Doncic's injury only strengthens the notion that continuing with a slow and steady approach remains their best course of action through the end of the regular season at the least.