Lakers' Austin Reaves out for rest of regular season with oblique strain
With Luka Doncic also sidelined the rest of the regular season, and possible more, the Lakers will be without their starting backcourt. Marcus Smart questionable for Sunday.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, left, passes the ball over Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell in the second half at Crypto. com Arena on Tuesday. (Allen J.
Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The Lakers will be without their starting backcourt for the rest of the regular season — five more games — after Austin Reaves was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique strain on Saturday. Lakers coach JJ Redick said Reaves underwent an MRI exam on his left olbique/rib area Saturday. The team learned earlier this week that Luka Doncic has a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be out for the remainder of the regular season — and perhaps beyond.
The Lakers are also dealing with an injury to guard Marcus Smart, who has missed the last six games because of a right ankle contusion and is questionable for the game. “It's it's lingering soreness in the ankle,” Redick said. Even with all of this, Redick said the Lakers’ “mission hasn’t changed.
” Read more: Luka Doncic's hamstring strain will keep him out for remainder of the regular season “We want to get the third seed and we want to win a first-round series,” Redick said. The Lakers are the third in the Western Conference, but Denver, Houston and Minnesota are within striking distance. The Lakers hold the tiebreaker over all three.
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