The Los Angeles Lakers had to play the second half without Luka Dončić on Thursday. They can only hope that's the extent of his time out.

Dončić exited the game against the Philadelphia 76ers with an apparent leg injury and was later announced to be out for the rest of the game, with the Lakers describing the injury as left leg soreness. The injury occurred in the second quarter, on a stepback from the paint that led to Dončić grabbing his hamstring.

Dončić was not pleased with the development.

Dončić finished the game with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 turnovers.

It had mostly been a healthy season for Dončić, with appearances in 42 of the Lakers' games this season. His longest absence was early in the season, when he missed three games with a finger sprain and leg contusion.

This injury comes at a sensitive time for the Lakers, who entered the game in sixth place in the Western Conference and only one game ahead of the seventh-place Phoenix Suns. After a strong start, they've been a significantly up-and-down team since the start of December but were hoping to get a shot in the arm with the return of Austin Reaves, who had been out for more than a month with a calf strain.

Instead, they can only hope this isn't the start of an absence for another of their top players.