The Los Angeles Lakers lost a primetime game in New York to the Knicks last night, and it's hard not to wonder, considering the team's lackluster second-half showing, how different the game could have gone if L.A. had Austin Reaves at their disposal.
Reaves last played on Christmas Day, when he reaggravated a left calf injury against the Houston Rockets. Since then, there has been plenty of speculation about when Reaves would return to the Lakers' lineup, but more than a month after sustaining the strain, there is still no concrete sign of a Reaves return. And his teammates, who have managed a 10-9 record in his absence, have felt the loss of their 27-point-a-game guard.
“We've had some really good moments. We have some not-so-good moments. We want to continue to try to build off of that,” LeBron James said, via ESPN's Dave McMenamin. “It's been tough all season as far as dealing with injuries. Guys in and guys out. Unfortunately, our All-Star 2-guard has been out for a minute, and that's a big piece of our team. So, it's kind of hard to see what we can really, truly be.”
Luka Doncic, who quickly developed a strong backcourt partnership with Reaves after being acquired by the Lakers a year ago, echoed the desire to have Reaves back, albeit only if it can be done without further injury.
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“It's definitely hard with a calf,” Doncic said. “I've been through that. It's not an easy injury. So, we just want him to be healthy. If he's not ready to come back, don't come back. But obviously, we'd love to have him out there. We can't wait for his return.”
The Lakers are 15-8 this season when Reaves plays, and without him, they are 14-11. He missed three straight games in early November due to a groin injury. A little more than a month later, after playing 14 consecutive games, he missed three in a row due to what was called a mild left calf strain. Upon his return, he played a combined 37 minutes over two games before exiting the Lakers' Christmas Day loss to the Rockets. He has since missed 19 straight games and may miss more; Lakers head coach JJ Redick said Reaves is “day-to-day, game-to-game” but was not certain he would be ready to come back for Tuesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Reaves had been having the best season of his five-year career before going out with injury, as he averaged a career-high 26.6 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in 23 games. In the third year of his four-year, $53.8 million contract extension, Reaves, 27, can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason if he chooses to decline his $14.9 million player option.