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Luka Doncic hurts himself on the Cavaliers’ raised court

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Jan 28, 2026 9:35 PM ET

Luka Doncic became the latest player to have a mishap with the home court in Cleveland.

Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers played on Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. In the first quarter of the contest, Doncic launched a three-point attempt from the left wing and hopped backwards on one leg during his follow-through.

Unfortunately, Doncic ended up taking one step too many and hurt himself by falling off the edge of the Cavaliers’ slightly-raised court. The former NBA scoring champion would ultimately have to leave the game and hobble off to the locker room for evaluation.

Here is the video.

Luka had to go back to the locker room after an apparent leg injury at the edge of the court. pic.twitter.com/QxPvkiE5p0
— ESPN (@espn) January 29, 2026

Doncic would return to the contest later in the first quarter after missing just over six minutes of game action. He finished with a game-high 29 points on 12/20 shooting, but the Lakers got sloshed by the Cavaliers, losing by a final score of 129-99.

The unique court situation in Cleveland has long been a concern for opposing teams, and one NBA player once even suffered an ACL tear by falling off the edge of it during a game. Mike Breen of ESPN described the court on the air as having a “design flaw,” and on Wednesday, Doncic (who has already been playing through some troubling injuries lately) became the latest victim.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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