The Los Angeles Lakers organization confirmed this past Saturday that player Austin Reaves would be sidelined for the remainder of the current regular season due to sustaining a Grade 2 oblique muscle injury.
This announcement represents a significant setback for the Lakers, a team already navigating the rest of the regular season absent their injured All-Star and Most Valuable Player contender, Luka Dončić, who is out due to a Grade 2 hamstring issue.
Consequently, the Lakers will complete their regular season schedule without the presence of their two highest-scoring players. There are five contests left on their fixture list. Reports indicate that Dončić is out for an undetermined period, and his participation in any opening-round playoff series remains uncertain.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Reaves is anticipated to be out of action for approximately four to six weeks because of his injury, which suggests he will be unavailable for any initial playoff series and potentially further into the postseason should the Lakers progress past the first stage. The postseason tournaments are slated to commence on the eighteenth of April.
Reaves suffered this injury during the team’s defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, an encounter where Dončić also sustained his own injury.
The Lakers had been awaiting the findings from an MRI scan prior to confirming Reaves’ playing status. As stated by head coach JJ Redick, a subsequent MRI was required because the Dallas Mavericks conducted the initial imaging on an incorrect body part for Reaves. The Lakers are currently in Dallas for their matchup against the Mavericks this Sunday.
As of Saturday, the Lakers held the third position in the Western Conference standings with a record of 50 wins and 27 losses, placing them one game in front of the Denver Nuggets, two games ahead of the Houston Rockets, and four games clear of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The four highest-ranked teams within the conference are granted the benefit of home-court advantage during the initial phase of the playoffs.
Reaves, at 27 years old, is experiencing his most productive season to date. His statistics include averages of 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per contest, alongside a 49% field goal percentage and 36% accuracy from beyond the arc. He has established himself as a primary offensive threat on a squad that includes both Dončić and LeBron James. The Lakers will face a considerable handicap as long as both he and Dončić are unavailable for play.
