Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will miss the start of the Lakers’ playoff series against the Houston Rockets, leaving Los Angeles without its starting backcourt when the best-of-seven first-round matchup opens Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
After practice Friday, coach JJ Redick said there was no update on either player. Doncic is out with a grade 2 left hamstring strain. Reaves is sidelined by a grade 2 left oblique strain. Neither is expected to play in the series opener, and people not authorized to speak on the matter have said both are expected to miss four to six weeks.
The absence is a heavy blow because the Lakers lose 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 12.4 rebounds per game from Doncic and Reaves combined. Doncic led the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game, finished third in the league in assists at 8.3 per game and was second on the Lakers in rebounding at 7.7 per game. Reaves has been working in Los Angeles and was around teammates during the week of practice, with some shooting after a few sessions, while Doncic went to Spain to get treatment.
The Lakers said on April 2 in Oklahoma City that Doncic and Reaves would be out until the end of the regular season, and that is still the clearest public marker for their return. Redick said the team used the word “elevate” all week in practice and worked on box-out drills to prepare for Houston’s offensive rebounding. He said the team’s approach is to try to make the season last as long as possible so both players can return at some point, and added that he was excited to get Doncic back and be around the group.
That leaves LeBron James as the leading man for a Lakers team entering the postseason without its starting backcourt and facing a Houston club that is heavily favored in the first round. For Los Angeles, the early test is not just surviving the opening game. It is finding enough offense and enough rebounding to keep the series alive long enough for the roster to become whole again.