On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers dropped to 2-2 with a home loss at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. It was another big game from Austin Reaves, who followed up his 51-point masterpiece against the Sacramento Kings with 41 more on Monday, but ultimately, the Lakers' lack of depth due to injuries was too much to overcome against Portland.
The Lakers could certainly use Luka Doncic right about now, but the Slovenian star is currently out dealing with multiple injuries, including a left finger sprain.
On Monday, when Reaves was on the sideline, Doncic appeared to show his teammate how his hand looked due to the injury, and Reaves' reaction quickly went viral.
(NFSW, video via Luka Updates on X, formerly Twitter).
AR says “Oh shit” when Luka shows him his palm or finger? 😳 pic.twitter.com/Fs4Kuk2KFj
— Luka Updates (@LukaUpdates) October 28, 2025
Lakers fans are certainly hoping that Doncic's injury isn't as bad as Reaves' reaction might suggest it is.
A tough stretch for the Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers knew they'd be without LeBron James for the first few weeks of this season due to injury, but they likely didn't anticipate having only seven members of their active roster healthy less than a week into the 2025-26 campaign.
However, that's exactly the situation that the team finds itself in now due to a variety of injuries. The good news for Austin Reaves is that it's given him an opportunity just how elite of a player he can be with the ball in his hands, but it remains unclear if head coach JJ Redick will be able to find a way to weaponize that potential when he is relegated to his normal third option role alongside James and Doncic.
Overall, the Lakers will gladly take a 2-2 start considering the number of injuries they're dealing with, but they'd certainly like to have their best player in Doncic back in the lineup as soon as possible. Doncic had gotten off to a red-hot start to the season, scoring 43 and 49 points in his first two games before the injury sidelined him.
The Lakers will next take the floor against the Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday evening.
