After a 3-0 start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers are currently on a five-game road trip and have lost their first two games. Due to injuries to Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood, they are already shorthanded. And now they may have another problem to deal with. According to Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet, Austin Reaves seemed to sustain an ankle injury during the second quarter of the Lakers’ game against the Toronto Raptors and was sent to the locker room.
Reaves was in the Lakers’ starting lineup at the end of the first half even though he did not finish it.
This season, Austin Reaves has been one of the Lakers’ most reliable players, so any sustained injury would be devastating. Although his condition was labeled as likely, he had just been mentioned on the team’s injury report with a thigh ailment.
A minor ankle ailment kept Reaves out of one of the Lakers’ preseason games, but he was healthy enough to play in the season opener. Reaves finished with 13 points, one rebound, four assists, and one steal in 14 minutes of play before leaving the game against the Raptors.
He was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line and 4-0f-6 from the field.
Reaves was on the ball a lot during the Lakers’ early 3-0 start as a
main playmaker and ball handler. He was averaging 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.2 steals going into Friday’s game in Toronto. He was also shooting 52.5 percent from the field, 44.8 percent from the three-point line, and 75 percent from the free-throw line.
After going undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, Reaves joined the Lakers. His initial contract with the Lakers was two-way, but the franchise swiftly changed it to a conventional one before the 2021–22 season even began.
Every season since joining the NBA, the former Oklahoma and Wichita State star has improved his stats. He is currently in his fourth season, and his output will be essential to the Lakers’ success this season.
For the Lakers and their supporters, his return to the court for the second half is undoubtedly welcome.
ClutchPoints’ basketball journalist David Yapkowitz covers both men’s and women’s NCAA, NBA, and WNBA basketball news. The Next Hoops, SB Nation, and Basketball Insiders are among the publications that feature the Los Angeles native.