The Los Angeles Lakers are entering some rough terrain as the playoffs approach. In the past couple of days, they have lost their No. 1 and No. 2 options. Luka Doncic suffered a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring, while Austin Reaves suffered a Grade 2 left oblique injury.
Both injuries occurred during their game on Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Doncic was forced to exit the game, while Reaves briefly left before returning to finish it.
Luka’s impact
Luka has been the heartbeat of the Lakers during the second half of the season. He has propelled them to the No. 3 seed in the West. He has done that by averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists (third in the NBA), and 7.7 rebounds (second among guards). On top of that, he was named the Western Conference Player of the Month after putting up 13 straight 30-point games, including seven 40+ point games.
The tricky thing is that Doncic suffered a hamstring strain earlier during the season. However, he only ended up missed four games before the All-Star break and returned to play after the break. This could be a sign that he will recover quickly this time around as well.
It could also go in the opposite direction. The fact that he already suffered a hamstring injury could mean that it will take longer for him to recover this time around. Then the Lakers have to consider the fact that hamstring injuries are a tough road to navigate.
Whatever the Lakers decide to do with Doncic when the playoffs start doesn’t affect the fact that he will not make the 65-game threshold to be eligible for postseason awards. His agent, Bill Duffy, said, “To ensure that Luka’s incredible accomplishments this season are rightly honored and he can be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards, we intend to apply for an ‘Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge’ to the 65-game rule.”
Reaves impact
Reaves had taken a major step forward this season. He proved that he could be the second option playing alongside Doncic. He also showed that he could be the first option when needed. Reaves averaged a career-high 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.1 steals. Overall, his shooting splits are 49% on field goals, 36% from three, and 87% on free throws.
Reaves has stepped up all season for the Lakers as they have battled their way up to the three seed. Over the course of the first 22 games of the season, he averaged 29.3 points per game. That span included games of 51, 41, and 44 points.
This isn’t the first injury that Reaves has suffered this season. He suffered a calf strain against the Rockets on Christmas Day that caused him to miss 19 games. After he came back, however, his scoring took a major drop. He only scored more than 19 points twice in the 14 games after his injury.
Playoff implications
As things stand right now, the Lakers are the three seed in the West with a 50-27 record. However, they are 1/2 a game above the Denver Nuggets. In their remaining five games, they’ll play the Mavericks, Thunder, Warriors, Suns, and Jazz.
The Lakers could very possibly fall down the standings and become the fourth or even the fifth seed by the time the season ends. However, coach JJ Reddick said that “Our mission, it hasn’t changed…The rest of these guys and my staff, we’re going after the 3-seed, and we’re going to try to win a playoff series.”
Despite what Reddick says, the betting markets are losing faith in the Lakers. When the news of Doncic’s and Reaves’ injuries came out, the Lakers’ odds went from 30-1 to 120-1 to win the NBA Finals. On top of that, their odds to win the West dropped from 15-1 to 80-1 to win the Western Conference.
Lebron
The injuries to Doncic and Reaves mean that the Lakers will be without their No. 1 and No. 2 options heading into the playoffs. Therefore, LeBron James is going to have to step up and produce if the Lakers want to perform at a high level.
The issue is that James hasn’t been playing at his normal level. He’s been playing as the third option and, in the past seven games, has averaged 15.6 points on 46.3% shooting, 7.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists.
However, Lebron has spoken about the mentality change, saying, “You got to flip the mindset a little bit when your role changes, whatever the case may be or what’s needed out of [you for] the team…So the mindset changes a little bit, for sure.”
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the Lakers in the final five games of the season. They have a chance to be the third seed and host a series, but if they could slide all the way down to five, they would be on the road.
It has been a great season for them, but these two injuries could ruin everything in the span of a couple of short weeks.
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