The Los Angeles Lakers may be without starting guard Austin Reaves when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Head coach JJ Redick said Saturday that Reaves underwent an MRI on his left oblique and rib area and is officially questionable for the game.
Reaves felt discomfort while reaching for a rebound during the first half of Thursday’s 139-96 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He briefly left for evaluation, returned to finish the night with a team-best 15 points in 27 minutes, and later described the pain as manageable.
The 24-year-old needed a second scan after the initial MRI examined the wrong section of his torso. “I’m not sure where the mix-up happened, but it wasn’t on our end,” Redick said.
The Lakers’ backcourt is already thin. Marcus Smart has missed six straight contests with groin and ankle issues and remains day-to-day. On Friday the club announced that Luka Doncic suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring and will sit out the remainder of the regular season. A typical recovery timeline for that injury is about four weeks, leaving his postseason availability uncertain.
Despite the injuries, Redick insisted the objective is unchanged. “We’re still chasing the 3-seed and planning to win a playoff series,” he said.
Los Angeles enters Sunday at 50-27, one game ahead of the fourth-place Denver Nuggets, two in front of the Houston Rockets and three up on the Minnesota Timberwolves, with five games left. The Lakers own the head-to-head tiebreaker against all three rivals.
Should Reaves be sidelined, Redick expects to spread ball-handling duties among LeBron James, Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton. James, who has averaged 15.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists over his past seven outings, acknowledged the added responsibility. “You flip your mindset when the team needs something different,” he said.
Redick indicated he could expand the rotation from nine to as many as 11 players, with Kobe Bufkin, Nick Smith Jr. and Dalton Knecht set to join the club after finishing their G League playoff run with South Bay.
After facing Dallas, the Lakers have a demanding finishing stretch against Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Golden State on Thursday, Phoenix on Friday and Utah in next Sunday’s finale.
Source: ESPN.com
