Luka Doncic Out for Lakers vs. Blazers as Part of Calf Injury ...

For the first time since joining the Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Dončić will miss a game due to injury-related reasons.

Per NBA insider Marc Stein, the Lakers plan to hold the star out of Thursday night's game against the Portland Trail Blazers "as part of the recovery from a long-term calf injury."

According to Stein, Los Angeles is "pleased with his progress and optimistic he'll soon participate fully in back-to-backs."

Dončić arrived in Los Angeles earlier this month in a blockbuster trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. He joined the Lakers having missed more than a month of basketball due to a calf strain he suffered on Christmas Day.

He made his Lakers debut on Feb. 10 as the team picked up a convincing win against the Utah Jazz. Los Angeles lost to Utah later that week before the All-Star break. In Dončić's third game with the team on Wednesday, the Lakers fell to the Charlotte Hornets 100-97.

With Los Angeles playing games on back-to-back nights this week, holding Dončić out of Thursday's contest will allow him to get fully rested before a tough matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

Dončić has been far from his usual self since suiting up in purple and gold. He's averaging just 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 35.6 percent from the field and 20.8 percent from deep.

In 22 games with Dallas this season, Dončić put up 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game on 45 percent from the field and 35 percent from deep.

His early struggles with the Lakers make sense given that Dončić hadn't played in more than a month and he's still finding his place in a new offense. Considering what we've seen from Dončić over the past seven years, it's likely only a matter of time before he gets things going and begins putting up MVP numbers once again.

Los Angeles will need the version of Dončić it traded for if the Lakers want to make a deep run in the playoffs this year. Luckily for the Lake Show, some solid play before the All-Star break saw them climb up the Western Conference Standings and they're currently sitting in fifth place at 32-21.

Their position in the West means the Lakers should be able to manage with Dončić having to miss a few back-to-backs. Still, both Los Angeles and Dončić would like to get past the lingering injury sooner rather than later.