Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who left Friday night’s 106-102 victory against the Los Angeles Clippers with right calf soreness, is listed as day-to-day after an MRI showed no serious injury.
Amid their current five-game winning streak, the Lakers remain focused on building chemistry, particularly with Luka Doncic, acquired in a blockbuster trade on Feb. 2 before the midseason deadline.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Reaves’ status for Sunday’s rematch against the Clippers remains “uncertain.” Regardless, the Lakers are optimistic after getting back the MRI results.
NBA News: Austin Reaves Faces Right Calf Injury
Reaves’ exit from the game after only nine minutes, during which he managed six points, was precautionary, following complaints of calf tightness. The Lakers also played without Rui Hachimura, who is sidelined with left patellar tendinopathy and will miss at least three more games after suffering the injury against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Reaves has been crucial this season, averaging 19.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.3 rebounds over 53 games. His collaboration with Doncic has been particularly impactful. Doncic, who turned 26 with a 31-point game against the Clippers, quickly noticed how intriguing Reaves’ skill-set is and the potential they have together when sharing the floor as Lakers teammates.
“It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve been watching him a lot,” Doncic said of Reaves. “When we played them, it was hard to guard him. He’s just a different guy. He’s one of those guys that just makes a difference from him being on the court. So I’m very excited to get some playing time with him.”
Los Angeles Lakers Building Chemistry with Luka Doncic
The trio of LeBron James, Doncic, and Reaves has shown promising results on the court. In the 114 minutes they have played together, the Lakers have posted an impressive 117.3 offensive rating, a 109.8 defensive rating, and a 7.4 net rating. Similarly, in the 159 minutes that Doncic and Reaves shared on the court, the team achieved a 6.2 net rating, indicating their effectiveness together. James is confident the team has yet to reach their ceiling as they are early in the chemistry-building process.
“We haven’t played our best game we’re capable of playing, honestly,” James said. “We have a couple injuries and things of that nature that we need to attend to as well. And that’s always very important to be able to keep it going in this league to have that type of luck, too. So we’ll see what happens.”
Los Angeles must maximize every opportunity to build chemistry with this core group and develop effective plug-and-play combinations. However, whether Austin Reaves can play Sunday or not, Luka Doncic will benefit from gaining reps with his teammates as he works to regain his prior form after missing over six weeks due to a left calf strain that he suffered before debuting with the Lakers and has managed since.
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