The Lakers have taken one step forward and another back with their most recent injury report.
Austin Reaves will miss his second game in a row due to right groin soreness as the Lakers take on the Spurs, but on the plus side, Los Angeles will have Luka Dončić available.
Before this update, there was hope that Reaves would return for this game.
With Reaves being a full participant at shootaround, he is likely close to returning. Los Angeles plays again on Saturday as they begin a five-game road trip, so hopefully, missing Wednesday’s game is more about the team being overly cautious than an indication that this is a serious ailment.
With Victor Wembanyama and the second-seed Spurs coming to town, beating them without their starting guard will be a challenge.
Clearly, he didn’t feel good enough to play and will have to miss the game.
Reaves is averaging 31.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game.
While Reaves being out hurts, Luka returning should give the backcourt a tremendous offensive boost. Dončić is averaging an incredible 41.3 points per game on the season.
Another bright spot for the Lakers is that Jaxson Hayes has also been upgraded to available. The backup center was initially probable to play with a right ankle sprain, but he is now officially good to go.
The Lakers have done a stellar job of winning games despite many players being out, and they’ll try to do it again on Wednesday.
Luka will likely have to play one of his better games to give the Lakers a chance in this matchup.
Luckily, Dončić has already demonstrated this year that he is one of the best players in the NBA. So this challenge is not only doable for the Slovenian, it might even be one he embraces as the Lakers host the Spurs on national TV.