It’s been over a month since Austin Reaves played in a Lakers game due to his calf strain, and he was just as eager to return as fans were to watch him play.
He finally came back for LA’s contest against Brooklyn and played well while on a minutes restriction.
Reaves began the contest on the bench, but did start in the second half. He ended the game with 15 points and four rebounds in the blowout win.
After the game, Reaves said he felt good being back and was getting bored watching instead of playing
basketball.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick mentioned wanting Austin Reaves to be “100% confident” before returning from injury, and it seems like that has happened.
Hopefully, this is the end of Reaves’ calf strain problems. That injury can be a tricky one to recover from. This year alone, Reaves had to deal with two different calf injuries that have taken him out of games.
With Reaves back, he can continue on with the career year he was having. On the season, Reaves is averaging 26.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6 assists per game.
Unfortunately, he didn’t make the All-Star team and is already ineligible for the NBA awards because of the games he’s missed.
However, there is still plenty of time for him to show his full potential during his contract year and help the Lakers during the post-All-Star stretch.
And given how much of a team player Reaves is and how much he loves to compete, he most definitely cares a lot more about being back and ready to help LA reach their full potential than any personal accolades.
So long as his calf remains healthy, then the best is yet to come for Reaves, and he can finally get a larger sample size of games with Luka Dončić and LeBron James this season. So far, the trio has played together in only 9 matchups.
That number should increase the rest of the way substantially, as all three players are available.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
