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The elephant in the room for the Lakers as they enter the playoffs has been, and will continue to be, the status of their starting backcourt, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Both are out because of injuries — Doncic with a grade 2 left hamstring strain and Reaves with a grade 2 left oblique strain — and neither is expected to play in the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets that begins Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
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After practice Friday, coach JJ Redick was quick to say “there’s not” when asked about an update on Doncic and Reaves.
After Doncic and Reaves were injured on April 2 at Oklahoma City, the Lakers said both would be out until the end of the regular season. According to people not authorized to speak on the matter, both are expected to be out four to six weeks.
Doncic went to Spain to get treatment, and Reaves has been working diligently in L.A., with the hope that they can return sooner.
The Lakers miss their combined output of 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 12.4 rebounds per game. Doncic led the NBA in scoring (33.5) and was third in assists (8.3); he was second on the Lakers in rebounding (7.7).
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Read more: Swanson: Can LeBron James pull off his second-greatest playoff feat?
During the week of practice, Reaves was around his teammates and seen shooting after a few practices. He appeared to be in good spirits. Doncic was supposed to be back by Friday.
“We love having Austin here and we’re glad he is in a position to do his return-to-play [work], however long it takes with us,” Redick said. “Excited to get Luka back and be around the group. Austin and I talk just about every day about different things. So he’s … just being a part of this. …
“The mindset for our team and for those two guys, like we’re gonna try to make this season as long as possible so that we can get those guys back at some point. We don’t know what that is, and that’s just our job. And their job is to do everything they can to be in a position to come back at some point. It may not work, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
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Publish date : 2026-04-17 23:00:00
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