The Lakers look set to get an unexpected boost this weekend with the return of Austin Reaves.
In a wave of updates that have escalated quickly, Reaves seems set to return to the court this weekend and as soon as Game 3 on Friday. Prior to Game 2 on Tuesday, head coach JJ Redick confirmed that Reaves had begun on-court work. At that time, though, he was just doing 1-on-1 work and had to progress to 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 work.
From that point to Friday, things have developed so rapidly that, on ESPN on Friday afternoon,
Shams Charania reported that Reaves is trying to return for Game 3 and, if not, will try to do the same in Game 4.
If you want to put a lot into the wording here, it sure sounds like Austin will be back by Game 4 at the latest. That’s a pretty drastic change, if that’s really the case.
Prior to the series, the Lakers were working under the expectation that neither he nor Luka Dončić would return during the first round. To a certain extent, operating under that assumption makes sense and expecting either to return and save the day would be the wrong mindset to take.
But even still, this feels like a bit of gamesmanship went into this one. At the very least, the Lakers were playing things very close to the vest because this all feels pretty sudden.
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