Lakers’ Austin Reaves Suffers Injury Scare Against Thunder

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Reign Amurao | Last updated Apr 2, 2026 10:41 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers geared up to face the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on Thursday. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the team suffered an unfortunate setback with Austin Reaves earlier in the game.

The Lakers had just finished a dominant run in March, losing only two of the 17 games they played. Their final game of the month was on Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they had a 127-1163 win.

However, they were taken aback by the team's early-game effort against the Thunder and held a dominant 44-21 advantage in the first quarter. Additionally, the Lakers suffered a minor setback with Reaves, who had to head back to the locker room.

Austin Reaves Returns to the Game After a Brief Return to the Locker Room

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15)Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Early in the game, Reaves made a 3-pointer and grabbed his back after he landed. He was in obvious pain while on the floor, and head coach JJ Redick had to take him out of the game. The undrafted guard headed to the locker room to get his back checked out. He scored eight points for the team in 11 minutes of action before he left the game.

In the second quarter, Reaves returned to the bench and was subbed into the game.

Status alert: Austin Reaves (back) available to return Thursday.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) April 3, 2026

Reaves was not in the injury report against the Thunder and has been healthy since returning to the lineup on Feb. 12. The players missing in the Lakers' lineup are Marcus Smart, Dalton Knecht, Kobe Bufkin and Adou Thiero. Smart has missed the past five games due to an ankle contusion. The other three players, meanwhile, have been assigned to play for the team's G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

Before the game against OKC, Reaves had played the past 23 straight games. During that stretch, the Lakers star has averaged 20.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists on 46.4% shooting. With his production, LA has secured an 18-5 record.

His health was also credited by Redick for helping the Lakers have a strong month.

“I think, Luka has had as good of a month as anybody that I can remember in modern NBA, at least since I’ve been part of it… He just played phenomenally this month. And then everyone else just had huge impacts. AR getting healthy, LeBron on both ends of the floor, DA and Jackson are really just filling in and doing what they need to do to help this team win at a high level,” Redick said after the Lakers' win over the Cavaliers.

The team is hoping to have a healthy star trio as the postseason approaches.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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