The Lakers have taken one step forward and another back with their most recent injury report.
Austin Reaves will miss his second game in a row due to right groin soreness as the Lakers take on the Spurs, but on the plus side, the Lakers will have Luka Dončić available.
Luka missed the team’s game against the Blazers
due to injury management on a lower left leg contusion. Now, he isn’t listed at all on the injury report.Before this update, there was hope that Reaves would return for this game.
Reaves was upgraded to questionable on Tuesday and was a full participant in Wednesday’s shootaround ahead of their contest against San Antonio.
With Reaves being a full participant at shootaround, he is likely close to returning. Los Angeles plays again on Saturday as they begin a five-game road trip, so hopefully, missing Wednesday’s game is more about the team being overly cautious than an indication that this is a serious ailment.
With Victor Wembanyama and the second-seed Spurs coming to town, beating them without their starting guard will be a challenge.
Clearly, he didn’t feel good enough to play and will have to miss the game.
Reaves has started his contract year off with the best performances of his career. He already set a new high for himself, scoring 51 against the Kings and hitting a game-winner over the Wolves.
Reaves is averaging 31.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game.
While Reaves being out hurts, Luka returning should give the backcourt a tremendous offensive boost. Dončić is averaging an incredible 41.3 points per game on the season.
Another bright spot for the Lakers is that Jaxson Hayes has also been upgraded to available. The backup center was initially probable to play with a right ankle sprain, but he is now officially available.
The Lakers have done a stellar job of winning games despite many players being out, and they’ll try to do it again on Wednesday.
However, beating the Blazers with starters missing and defeating the Spurs is an entirely different proposition.
Luka will likely have to play one of his better games to give the Lakers a chance in this game.
Luckily, Dončić has already demonstrated this year that he is one of the best players in the NBA. So this challenge is not only doable for the Slovenian, it might even be one he embraces as the Lakers host the Spurs on national TV.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
