The Los Angeles Lakers announced at halftime of their Christmas Day contest against the Houston Rockets that Austin Reaves has been ruled out due to left calf soreness.
He played 15 minutes in the first half before being ruled out with the injury, finishing with 12 points, one rebound, one assist and one block on 5-of-8 shooting.
This calf injury is not a new one for Reaves as he recently missed a few games with a left calf strain before returning on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns. He was on a minutes restriction in that game, but that was lifted for the Christmas Day matchup with the Rockets.
It remains to be seen how serious the injury issue, but him re-aggravating it and not being able to play a full game obviously isn’t a great sign. Calf injuries are usually tricky and can lead to more serious injuries if they are not dealt with, so the Lakers will surely be cautious with Reaves before he sees the floor again.
In the meantime, Luka Doncic and LeBron James will need to pick up the slack as the team’s primary ball-handlers in Reaves’ absence while others will need to step up as well. Marcus Smart, in particular, will continue to see a lot of backcourt minutes.
JJ Redick always believed Austin Reaves could be an All-Star
Head coach JJ Redick has sung Reaves’ praises since coming to Los Angeles and the guard is responding with his best year to date. In fact, Redick said he always believed Reaves could be an All-Star some day.
“Yeah, our first conversation when I took the job was, ‘You’re gonna be an All-Star,’” Redick added. “So yeah, I believed it. By the way, I’m not going to every player and saying that (laughs). Like I actually said it because I believed it.”
When asked why he believed so strongly in Reaves, Redick had a simple answer.
“I hadn’t had many interactions with Austin. We had the podcast we did in, I think it was December the start of the prior season. Just I’m willing to bet on guys that are wired a certain way,” Redick said.
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