The biggest gut punch from Thursday’s loss to the Thunder was Luka Dončić‘s hamstring strain, but he wasn’t the only star with a visible injury in the game.
Prior to Luka going down, Austin Reaves was the one who made a trip to the locker room. Reaves was holding his back for much of the first quarter before checking out and getting checked.
While he did return, he was still holding his back at times during the rest of the game, though it never seemed to slow him down. After the game, head coach JJ Redick provided an explanation of how the injury occurred.
“He was in a weird position stretching for a basketball, loose ball,” Redick said. “He just felt like like intercostal, somewhere in his back in between the ribs. He was able to play through it and battled back. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Austin said he got treatment at halftime that allowed him to play in the second half. He also said that he felt better postgame, too.
“I went back to get a rebound, overextended a little bit and felt something,” Reaves said. “I feel decent now. We’ll see.”
The extra day off between games for the Lakers could be beneficial for Reaves. While it seems unlikely Luka’s injury will be measured in days, this one feels like that extra day could be beneficial.
The Lakers won’t play again until Sunday in Dallas. Having an extra day to rehab and get treatment could be the difference in him playing or not. The fact that he was able to play after the injury and play well, relatively speaking, is also encouraging for him being available against the Mavs.
It goes without saying that, with Luka sidelined, Austin’s availability will be even more crucial. He has flourished when Luka has been out this year, so there’s at least some room for optimism there. But only if he’s healthy.
In just about every way, Thursday’s loss was a gut punch. At least with Reaves’ injury, there’s a silver lining of hope that he won’t also be missing time.
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