Austin Reaves Day-To-Day With Left Heel Bruise

The main story coming out of the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Milwaukee Bucks was the injury status of guard Austin Reaves. Late in the third quarter of the contest, Reaves came down a bit awkwardly on his left leg following a dunk attempt and immediately began limping, ultimately asking for sub and going straight to the locker room.

The Lakers called it a left heel injury with head coach JJ Redick saying Reaves would undergo imaging to determine the severity of the injury. And he gave a promising update on what Reaves is dealing with.

“AR, based on his physical evaluation and how he was feeling yesterday, we opted against imaging. He’ll be day-to-day. We’ll have him on the injury report tomorrow at 5 o’clock,” Redick said after practice on Friday.

Redick explained why further imaging didn’t end up being necessary

“He has a bruise on his heel… We as a group collectively decided imaging wasn’t necessary,” he added.

This is undoubtedly good news for Reaves and the Lakers as he seems to have dodged a major bullet. Reaves could miss a little time in the immediate, but it doesn’t look to be a long-term issue and he should be able to be back on the court in a relatively short period.

What’s important now is that Reaves and the Lakers take their time in his recovery and be extra careful so as to not cause him to miss an extended period. Last season, Reaves also dealt with a calf issue that was believed to be a minor one and he returned quickly, only to re-aggravate the injury on Christmas Day and miss 19 games. The Lakers can not afford to have a repeat of that and must ensure Reaves is 100% healthy before returning.

It is a shame as Reaves is once again enjoying an excellent start to the season and could potentially be named to his first All-Star team and should he return and continue performing at the same level, that could still be the case.

In the meantime, it will be up to the rest of the Lakers to step up in his absence if he misses time, as Luka Doncic has already called for. Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton are the obvious candidates while forward Sandro Mamukelashvili could take on a more prominent offensive role as well. The Lakers’ young wings Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero are also likely to receive a bit more of an opportunity and further development in their young careers as well.

Lakers helping Sandro Mamukelashvili get more comfortable and confident in his role

The Lakers could certainly turn to Mamukelashvili to help push this offense in Reaves’ absence as he is coming off back-to-back 23-point outings and clearly has the trust of his coaches and teammates. In fact, they are all pushing the forward in trying to increase his confidence and comfortability with his new team.