The Lakers will be without star Luka Doncic on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors, but early indications suggest the hamstring issue that forced him out of Los Angeles’ Thursday game may not be as damaging as it initially looked.

ESPN reported that there is initial optimism that Doncic avoided a major injury and long-term absence, even as the team ruled him out with a left hamstring strain.

Doncic exited the Lakers’ 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers late in the second quarter after grabbing at his hamstring on a step-back, then was shut down for the remainder of the night.

The Lakers initially labeled it left leg soreness, and coach JJ Redick said postgame that Doncic “felt some soreness in his hamstring,” prompting the medical staff to hold him out as a precaution. An MRI was scheduled for Friday.

Before leaving, Doncic had 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and five turnovers in 16 minutes. For the season, Doncic is averaging 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.6 assists on 47.3% shooting.

The timing is tricky in a packed Western Conference, as the Lakers have been hovering around the middle of the playoff picture, attempting to avoid the play-in, with the Phoenix Suns just a game behind in seventh place.

The schedule doesn’t ease up after Saturday, with home games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, then a visit from the Dallas Mavericks before All-Star weekend in Inglewood, Calif.

–Field Level Media

The Chicago Bulls revamped their roster ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, making a flurry of deals that shipped eight players away.

That didn’t equate to a retooled style, however, as Chicago’s new acquisitions have learned.

On Saturday, they’ll hope to maintain the preferred frenetic pace of Bulls coach Billy Donovan against the visiting Denver Nuggets. After they get acclimated, of course.

Chicago returns home from a four-game road trip with a bevy of new faces. Some of them suited up Thursday in a 123-107 loss in Toronto, the Bulls’ sixth defeat in seven games.

Former Detroit Piston Jaden Ivey logged a season-high 33 minutes.

“Praise God that I was even able to play the whole game,” he said.

Anfernee Simons, who came from the Boston Celtics — who use the fewest possessions per game in the league — could attest.

“I was pretty tired out there today,” Simons said. “Really tired. And Billy was just telling us to play faster.”

At any rate, the Bulls are bracing for a Western Conference contender in the Nuggets, who are on a season-worst three-game slide.

Denver will aim to salvage a victory from a three-game road trip that has started with narrow defeats in Detroit and New York. The Nuggets have been idle since their 134-127 double-overtime loss to the Knicks on Wednesday.

“That was a really fun game,” said Jamal Murray, whose 39 points paced the Nuggets. “Those are the games that are memorable. Obviously, the loss sucks. But that’s a game that could have gone either way at any point of the overtime, any point of the fourth quarter. Those are the games you want to be a part of.”

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic contributed 30 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to notch his 181st career triple-double. That matched him with Oscar Robertson for second-most all-time.

Jokic, who is working his way back from a knee injury, played 44:37 in the second night of a back-to-back but downplayed any concerns about fatigue.

“I don’t feel any tiredness,” Jokic said.

Coach David Adelman confirmed that the club’s medical staff cleared the increased workload.

“There was an ‘I don’t care’ factor once it got to overtime,” Adelman said. “We talked about it, and then medical, they said no, he’s fine to go. I think the issue would have been if I had sat him too long and then tried to get him back for key moments.”

Fellow starter Peyton Watson left the game with a hamstring injury.

Chicago is trying to claim back-to-back season series from Denver for the first time since 1997-98. The Bulls have defeated the Nuggets in three straight games, including a 130-127 victory in Denver on Nov. 17.

Josh Giddey had 21 points and 14 rebounds to spark Chicago, while Jokic posted a triple-double of 36 points, 18 boards and 13 assists.

Giddey (hamstring) missed his fifth straight game Thursday.

He’s sure to know the drill once he returns.

“All these guys coming in, we tried to emphasize move the ball and share the ball and space correctly,” Donovan said, “and try to communicate as well as we can.”

–Field Level Media

Peaking as it enters the second half of Southeastern Conference play, No. 25 Tennessee is searching for revenge and its fifth straight win on Saturday against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.

Since squandering a 17-point lead in an 80-78 home loss to Kentucky, Tennessee (16-6, 6-3 SEC) has rattled off four consecutive victories. For the streaking Volunteers, projected first-round NBA draft pick Nate Ament has averaged 24.5 points and 6.8 rebounds across the last four games.

The freshman poured in 28 points in Tennessee’s 84-66 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday, helping the Volunteers pull within a game of first place in the SEC.

“I love the kid to death, because he’s everything that you’d want in a player, and for your program to represent, and I know how hard he’s worked,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of Ament. “He’s such an unselfish person. He wants to win at the highest level, but he’s got a lot of pride, and he should, because he wants to be good. He wants to be the best with his God-given ability that he can be.”

In Tennessee’s first meeting with the Wildcats, Ament scored 17 points, while the Volunteers’ top scorer Ja’Kobi Gillespie (18.6 points per game) led the way with 24 points. Barnes’ team has dropped four straight regular-season meetings with its longtime SEC rival, and the veteran coach knows his group has to bring an edge to Lexington on Saturday.

“I just know this, if we don’t play hard for 40 minutes, we shouldn’t even drive up there,” Barnes said. “(Kentucky head coach) Mark (Pope) has done a really terrific job with his group, and they just took us apart in that second half.”

Kentucky (16-7, 7-3) appeared to be at a low point after starting 0-2 in conference play. Since the Wildcats’ home loss to Missouri on Jan. 7, Pope’s team has won seven of eight games, including a convincing 16-point win over Oklahoma on Wednesday.

The Wildcats have fully reemerged in the NCAA Tournament picture after beginning the year 5-4 and being booed off the court in Nashville following a 94-59 loss to Gonzaga in December.

A pair of returners have shouldered the load of late, as Otega Oweh’s 24 points and Brandon Garrison’s 20-point, 11-rebound double-double paced Kentucky’s impressive win against Oklahoma.

“I’m super proud of our guys. Really proud of the effort,” Pope said. “Really proud of B.G. stepping up and being great. Otega continues to play at an elite level. We got contributions from everybody.”

The Wildcats’ still rank 12th in the SEC in scoring at 81.9 points per game, but the offense is unrecognizable from its form in the nonconference.

“Just practicing over and over, a lot of meetings with our position coaches, just trying to get it right,” Garrison said of the improved offense. “I feel like everybody was on board trying to get the offense clicking, and we’ve just got to keep it rolling from here.”

Oweh leads Kentucky with 17 ppg, followed by Denzel Aberdeen’s 12.1 and Collin Chandler’s 9.4 average.

–Field Level Media