The Los Angeles Lakers have been very short-handed, especially on the offensive end, ever since Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves suffered injuries during an April 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Doncic sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain, while Reaves sustained an oblique strain during the same game.
Both recently returned to practice in a very limited capacity, and in recent days, there has been talk that Reaves was further along in his recovery than Doncic. Now, with Game 3 of the Lakers’ first-round NBA playoff series against the Houston Rockets set for Friday, Reaves has been upgraded from out to questionable.
Doncic remains out of action due to his hamstring injury.
Forward Jake LaRavia appeared to tweak his ankle late in Game 2 on Tuesday and headed straight to the locker room, but he isn’t listed on L.A.’s injury report. Coach JJ Redick said that LaRavia has “a very, very low grade, minor, minor, minor ankle sprain” and that LaRavia is day-to-day after an MRI came back clean.
For Houston, Kevin Durant, who missed Game 1 with a knee contusion but played in Game 2, is listed as questionable, while Steven Adams and Fred VanVleet are out. Per ESPN, Durant is now dealing with a sprained left ankle.
The Lakers lead this series two games to none after holding Houston under 100 points in both of the first two games. Their offense hasn’t exactly been hot either — they had 107 points in Game 1 and 101 points in Game 2, but they have shot very well from 3-point range. Getting Reaves back would take plenty of pressure off LeBron James, who has been playing excellent basketball, as well as Luke Kennard, who has played on the ball much more than he has in the past.
Kennard scored a playoff career-high 27 points in Game 1 and followed that performance with 23 points in Game 2.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers reveal big Austin Reaves update for Game 2 versus Rockets
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
