The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Friday that guard Austin Reaves will miss time due to a mild left calf strain and will be re-evaluated in one week. Following Saturday’s practice, head coach JJ Redick provided additional insight regarding the injury.
Redick explained that the injury developed gradually, rather than from a single play.
“For him, it’s hard to pinpoint an exact time during the game,” Redick said. “It had started to tighten up the day before, even though he did very light work intentionally. Just one of those things, and we’re obviously gonna be cautious with it.”
He added that the strain is grade one, and Reaves is not expected to miss more than a week.
“Yeah, it’s a mild strain, grade one. He’ll be out a week,” Redick said.
To avoid worsening the calf strain, the team won’t rush Reaves back.
“I would venture to say every player is a little different, but players now are becoming more cautious, to use that word again,” said Redick. “More cautious when they get those diagnoses with the calf. But everything looks clean, it’s not in the deep part… It should be a week.”
The timing of the injury is somewhat favorable, as Los Angeles has a relatively light schedule in the coming week. Reaves will miss Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Suns and Thursday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz, with a potential return against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, December 20, depending on how he progresses.
The 27-year-old guard has been a major contributor for the Lakers this season, averaging career highs of 27.8 points, 6.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 50.3% from the field and 36.9% from three. Reaves has also maintained an 87.5% free-throw percentage, flirting with the 50/40/90 club. However, in the last two games before to the announcement, he experienced a noticeable dip in production, scoring a combined 26 points on 28.1% shooting. Against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday, Reaves scored 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, along with eight rebounds and seven assists, though Los Angeles fell 132-119.
Given Reaves absence, the Lakers will need to adjust their rotation. Redick acknowledged the challenge, mentioning that Reaves plays an important role in making the team's offense function smoothly.
“Very. He kind of makes a lot of things work for us. For the next week, we’ll play different lineups.”
Bench contributors Marcus Smart, Gabe Vincent, and Jake LaRavia are likely to see increased minutes, while Bronny James and Nick Smith could also receive more playing time.
Defense has been a weak spot for Los Angeles, as they allowed 35 transition points against San Antonio — the highest any team has scored against them this season. To tackle these lapses, Redick said the team conducted a film session on Friday.
The Lakers, sitting at 17-7 and fourth in the Western Conference, will try to get back to winning ways Sunday against Phoenix, and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare without Reaves.
