The Lakers continue to get troublesome news in the injury department with star guard Austin Reaves sidelined for the remainder of the regular season, per ESPN.
He has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury. As a result, he is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Reaves came away from Thursday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with discomfort in his oblique area. In the same game, fellow star guard Luka Doncic injured his left hamstring and likely will miss the final five games of the regular season.
“I went back to get a rebound, overextended a little bit and I felt something,” Reaves said after the loss to the Thunder.
Reaves, 27, has averaged a career-best 23.3 points with 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 51 games (45 starts). He missed 19 consecutive games earlier this season with a calf injury.
In five seasons, all with the Lakers, Reaves has averaged 15.8 points with 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 331 games (216 starts).
With Reaves and Doncic both out, Los Angeles also could be without guard Marcus Smart (ankle) against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Smart was not a full participant in the Lakers’ practice on Saturday, ESPN reported.
Given the injuries, Redick said he plans to expand the rotation from nine players to possibly 11.
“All hands on deck,” Redick said, adding that Kobe Bufkin, Dalton Knecht, and Nick Smith Jr. will join the team in Dallas after playing for the South Bay Lakers in the G League playoffs.
“Our mission, it hasn’t changed. The rest of these guys and my staff, we’re going after the 3-seed and we’re going to try to win a playoff series. And we’ll see what happens with Luka.”
When asked how he’ll mentally prepare for the challenge ahead in light of the injuries, Lebron James said, “You got to flip the mindset a little bit when your role changes, whatever the case may be, or what’s needed out of [you for] the team. So, the mindset changes a little bit, for sure.”
The Lakers traveled to Oklahoma City feeling good about their playoff prospects while winning 13 of their previous 14 games to reach third place in the Western Conference. But their night against the Thunder has proved costly and not just because of a 139-96 blowout loss.
Doncic leads the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game and is also averaging 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds. Doncic was just named Western Conference Player of the Month for March when he averaged 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 2.3 steals.
–Field Level Media
