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Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt day-to-day after dislocating right pinky finger

Though Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a gruesome dislocated right pinky injury during the Lakers’ loss in Game 1 against the Thunder on Tuesday, coach JJ Redick said his forward has been listed as day-to-day for the second-round series.

Vanderbilt, who is left-handed, was injured in the second quarter trying to block a dunk by Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, but his hand hit the backboard. Vanderbilt immediately doubled over in pain, as the bone broke through the skin and had to be put back in place.

“They were able to put his finger back together and it’s splinted and he’s day-to-day,” Redick said Wednesday.

The Lakers and Thunder play Game 2 here Thursday night at Paycom Center.

Redick said it was a “reduction” for Vanderbilt, meaning it was a procedure to restore his dislocated finger.

Vanderbilt had his finger taped and had a splint on the finger after the game.

“Yeah. I mean, he’s obviously a tough-minded player and person,” Redick said. “It just, he had a full dislocation. So they just put the stuff back together. You know, he’ll be day-to-day.”

Redick was asked if it’ll be a pain tolerance issue for his defensive-minded forward.

“Certainly the pain is involved,” Redick said. “From my understanding, it’s basically making sure basically the tissue is healed enough. We’re obviously going to splint him, but making sure the tissue is healed enough to protect his skin barrier.”

Jaxson Hayes called Vanderbilt’s finger injury “disgusting” because the “whole bone was out of his skin.”

“Obviously, you never want to see one of your teammates go down,” Hayes said. “But, I mean, that was gross. That was really gross.”

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Frustrated Luka Doncic breaks silence; doctors forecasted he’d miss Thunder series

With the Lakers down 1-0 in the Western Conference semifinals, Luka Doncic has not yet ramped up to on-court contact drills while recovering from an injured left hamstring that had an inital eight-week timeline for his return.

Doncic, speaking to reporters for the first time since he hobbled off the court at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center on April 2, said Wednesday he has improved enough to begin running but he has not progressed to on-court contact drills. After suffering a left hamstring injury earlier this season, Doncic said the latest Grade 2 strain to the same area is unlike any he’s experienced because of its severity.

But it has not stopped him from trying to come back as soon as possible.

“I’m just doing everything I can,” Doncic said. “Every day I’m doing stuff I’m supposed to do. Obviously recovery, now I’m working … just going day by day, and I feel better every day.”

Soon after his injury, Doncic went to Spain and received platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections with hopes to help his recovery. He stayed for roughly two weeks because he needed to wait four days between each injection. He received four in total.

Without their leading scorer, the Lakers fought through a six-game, first-round series against the Houston Rockets, playing four of those games without Austin Reaves, who was also injured in the same game as Doncic. The fourth-seeded Lakers lost 108-90 to the defending champion Thunder in Game 1 of the conference semifinals on Tuesday.

Doncic had dutifully cheered from the bench during the playoff games, offering as much advice to his teammates as he can.

“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said of the injury. “I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I want to do is play basketball, especially at this time. It’s the best time to play basketball. It’s very frustrating seeing what my team is doing, I’m very proud of them. It’s been very tough just to see and watch them play.”

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