Carter drives in a run and robs Cruz of a homer as Rangers beat Pirates 5-1
Evan Carter shines as Rangers defeat Pirates 5-1
Austin Reaves is reportedly ahead in his rehab compared to Luka Doncic, potentially allowing him to return late in the Lakers' playoff series against the Rockets. Doncic, recovering from a Grade 2 hamstring strain, is expected to be out indefinitely.
While the Los Angeles Lakers look to take full control of their first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves continue to rehab from their injuries. Both were able to take part in practice to a limited extent recently, but neither is close to returning to game action.
Doncic recently returned from Europe, where he underwent an injection procedure in Spain to try to speed up his recovery from a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Reaves, meanwhile, is recovering from an oblique strain. Both injuries were sustained during a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers feel Reaves is further along in his recovery than Doncic is, and as a result, he could conceivably return late in the series versus Houston.
“The sense around the Lakers is that Austin Reaves is actually the one that’s further along than Luka Doncic in their respective rehab processes. I am told Austin Reaves has started one-on-one on-court work. The next step for him is to continue to go through the progressions of three-on-three, five-on-five. Remember, early April here, he had a four-to-six week timetable. So theoretically that puts him on track (to return) late in this series, potentially early in the next series. The Lakers are not expecting Luka Doncic to be back in this series, he is out indefinitely. But Austin Reaves (is) making some progress on the court.”
The schedule of this series may result in at least an outside chance of at least Reaves being able to return before it ends. Game 5 will be on April 29, which will be almost four full weeks since both injuries occurred. Game 6 and Game 7, if needed, will take place on May 1 and May 3, respectively.
Austin Reaves is making progress in his rehab and has started one-on-one on-court work, with a potential return late in the playoff series against the Rockets.
Luka Doncic is currently out indefinitely and is not expected to return in the series, while Austin Reaves is further along in his recovery process.
Both players sustained their injuries during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2.
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Without both stars, the Lakers took Game 1, 107-98, as Houston had to deal with the absence of Kevin Durant. Durant has reportedly been cleared to play in Game 2 on Tuesday evening.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Charania: Austin Reaves further along in rehab than Luka Doncic