Unless the F.A.A. decides to intervene out of the blue again, the Los Angeles Lakers travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns for a Sunday afternoon game.
The Lakers are riding a seven-game winning streak, with their most recent victory coming Wednesday over the struggling Milwaukee Bucks. In the 11-point win, the Lakers were hit with injury scares to stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. While Doncic, 27, is “fine” and is expected to suit up Sunday, according to head coach JJ Redick, Reaves’ availability is very much up in the air.
The 28-year-old Reaves, who exited during the third quarter of Wednesday’s game after landing awkwardly following a missed fast-break layup, is dealing with a bruised heel.
Lakers Star Not Expected to Play Sunday
Although Reaves’ injury isn’t considered to be major, Lakers journalist Jovan Buha expects the team to sidelined its star guard for Sunday’s game against the Suns.
“Again, I think they’ll be cautious and he’ll probably miss Sunday,” Buha said. “I think it makes sense to just be careful with it. It’s essentially a bone bruise, right — heel bruise, bone bruise, whatever. (He) might as well miss a few days and be cautious. But if he only misses a game or two … that’s fine with the Lakers schedule, and I think that’s a win.”
While missing Reaves Sunday would hurt the Lakers chances of extending their winning streak to eight games, the overall takeaway is that his injury could have been far worse.
“Reaves underwent X-rays at the arena Wednesday that came back clean,” reported ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “After seeing how Reaves was feeling Thursday morning once the Lakers returned to Los Angeles, the team determined that further medical imaging on the shooting guard’s foot would not be necessary. When Redick was asked if Reaves had suffered only a ‘minor’ injury, considering the Lakers decided to forgo an MRI, the coach replied: ‘I would assume a day-to-day injury is minor, yeah.’”
Reaves Injury Update Was Best Case Scenario
Although there seem to be plenty of injuries to talk about in Laker Land, all is relatively well. Reaves may not play Sunday, but he may not miss time beyond that. Reaves, who signed a four-year contract extension in the offseason, could very well have suffered an injury that would have sidelined him for weeks.
Redick also provided an update on Doncic and fellow banged up guards Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes. While there is now little to no concern surrounding Doncic, who appeared to injure his ankle late in the Lakers’ last game, Sexton and Grimes are dealing with notable ailments.
“Redick said backup guard Collin Sexton, who required stitches above his right eye after he and Bucks guard Ryan Rollins unintentionally head-butted one another Wednesday, was cleared of any concussion symptoms but is also considered day-to-day,” McMenamin reported. “Guard Quentin Grimes, who sprained the right pinkie on his shooting hand and missed the Lakers’ past two games, participated in the live portion of practice Friday, Redick said. Grimes said he jammed the finger in the Pistons game and taped it up for practice.”
If the Lakers are without Reaves on Sunday, they hope to have Doncic, Sexton and Grimes in the lineup.
Tied for the best record in the NBA, the Lakers aim to improve to 12-2 with a win over the Suns.
Lakers Get Bad Injury News as $180M Star Expected to Be Sidelined vs Suns