Lakers injury updates: How close are Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic to returning?

Yahoo SportsApr 2128 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves are both out for Game 2 of the Lakers' playoff series against the Rockets. Reaves is reportedly closer to returning than Dončić, with optimism for his comeback late in the series.

Key points

Lakers host Game 2 of NBA Playoffs against Houston Rockets
Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves are both out for Game 2
Reaves is progressing and may return late in the series
Dončić is still considered out indefinitely
Reaves had a four-to-six-week recovery timetable

Los Angeles LakersHouston RocketsLuka DončićAustin Reaves

Lakers injury updates: How close are Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic to returning?

The Los Angeles Lakers host Game 2 of their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, April 21, and while the Lakers will be without two of their most important players in Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, one of them is inching closer towards a return.

It was revealed during a report on ESPN's NBA Today that Dončić and Reaves both began practicing with the Lakers on Monday, April 20. While Dončić is still considered out indefinitely, ESPN reports Reaves has been progressing, and there is optimism in the building that he could return towards the end of the series.

"The sense around the Lakers is that Austin Reaves is actually the one that's further along than Luka Dončić in their respective rehab processes," Shams Charania said on the broadcast. "... Remember early April here, he had a four-to-six-week timetable. So theoretically, that puts him on track late in this series, potentially early in the next series."

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Charania added that Reaves has begun one-on-one on-court work and is expected to continue his progression to three-on-three and five-on-five before a return to game action.