The main story coming out of the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Milwaukee Bucks was the injury to guard Austin Reaves. Late in the third quarter of the game, Reaves fell a bit awkwardly on his left leg following a dunk attempt and immediately began limping, eventually calling for a substitution and heading straight to the locker room.
The Lakers called it a left heel injury and head coach JJ Redick said Reaves would undergo imaging to determine the severity of the injury. And he gave a promising update on what Reaves is facing.
“AR, based on his physical evaluation and how he felt yesterday, we chose not to use imaging. It will be day to day. We will have him on the injury report tomorrow at 5 p.m.,” Redick said after Friday’s practice.
Redick explained why additional imaging was not necessary
“He has a bruise on his heel… As a group, we collectively decided that imaging was not necessary,” he added.
This is undoubtedly good news for Reaves and the Lakers as he appears to have dodged a major bullet. Reaves might miss some immediate time, but that doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue and he should be able to be back on the field in a relatively short amount of time.
What’s important now is that Reaves and the Lakers take their time in his recovery and be very careful so as not to make him miss an extended period of time. Last season, Reaves also had a calf issue that was considered minor and he returned quickly, only to re-aggravate the injury on Christmas Day and miss 19 games. The Lakers can’t afford to repeat that and need to make sure Reaves is 100% healthy before returning.
It’s a shame because Reaves is once again having a great start to the season and could potentially be named to his first All-Star team and if he came back and continued to play at the same level, that could still be the case.
In the meantime, it will be up to the rest of the Lakers to step up in his absence if he runs out of time, as Luka Doncic has already requested. Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton are the obvious candidates, while forward Sandro Mamukelashvili could also take on a larger offensive role. The Lakers’ young wings, Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero, are also likely to receive a few more opportunities and continue their development in their young careers.
Lakers help Sandro Mamukelashvili become more comfortable and confident in his role
The Lakers could certainly turn to Mamukelashvili to help push this offense in Reaves’ absence, as he is coming off 23 straight points and clearly has the trust of his coaches and teammates. In fact, they all move forward trying to increase his confidence and comfort with his new team.
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