Lakers' Austin Reaves out at least 4 weeks with calf strain
The Los Angeles Lakers have hit their first rough stretch of the season. If they want to get out of it, they’re probably going to have to do it without Austin Reaves.
Reaves has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left gastrocnemius strain (the gastrocnemius is a muscle in the calf) and will be out until he’s re-evaluated in four weeks, the Lakers announced Friday via Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
The announcement comes two weeks after Reaves first suffered a mild left calf strain, which caused him to miss three games. He was deemed ready to return last week, but left Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets with another calf injury and will now be out for at least a month.
It’s a badly timed injury for the Lakers. The team has lost three games in a row, with losses in six of its past 10 games, and is now sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference. Its loss Thursday was one-sided to the point the Rockets led by double digits for the entire second half. Then, in postgame, head coach JJ Redick ripped into the roster and promised an”uncomfortable” practice Saturday for certain players.
Reaves probably wasn’t one of those players Redick had an issue with. He has been one of the NBA’s breakout players this season, averaging career highs nearly across the board and supplying an effective complement for stars Luka Dončić and LeBron James.
If Reaves can return in exactly four weeks from Friday, that’s 14 games he’ll be missing. The NBA trade deadline is not long after that on Feb. 5, which is significant given the trade speculation around him.
