The Los Angeles Lakers injury list continues to grow as veteran guards Marcus Smart (right quad contusion) and Gabe Vincent (left ankle sprain) have both been ruled out of Monday night’s contest against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Those two join Luka Doncic (left finger sprain, left leg contusion), LeBron James (right sciatica), Jaxson Hayes (left patellar tendinopathy), Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle strain) and Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) on the Lakers’ injury report.
This leaves the Lakers extremely shorthanded on a back-to-back against a feisty Trail Blazers team looking to get back in the win column. There was already a lot on the plate of Austin Reaves, but now the team will be even more reliant on his playmaking as Smart and Vincent were the secondary creators with Doncic and James already out.
Vincent left Sunday’s contest against the Kings in the third quarter with that ankle sprain and was seen leaving the arena in a walking boot, so he could miss more than this contest. Smart would seem more likely to return quickly, though he has a bit of an injury history as of late.
This will leave the Lakers with six regular rotation players healthy with Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht joining Reaves. The other available players are Bronny James and two-way contracts in Nick Smith Jr., Chris Mańon and Christian Koloko.
Of course, it didn’t matter on Sunday night with Reaves putting on an otherworldly performance in Sacramento, but the Lakers may need another outing like that and it won’t be easy against the Trail Blazers who boast some of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders in three-time All-Defense First Team selection Jrue Holiday as well as Toumani Camara, a Second Team All-Defense selection last season.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves holding 51-point night over Luka Doncic’s head
Austin Reaves’ 51-point, 11-rebound, 9-assist performance against the Kings was easily the best game of his career. The 51 points were a career-high and came just two nights after superstar Luka Doncic came up just short of his first 50 point game in a Lakers uniform, finishing with 49 in the Lakers’ win over the Timberwolves.
And with the relationship Reaves and Doncic have, the young guard noted he will be sure to hold his game over Doncic’s head.
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