On the cusp of the first round of NBA playoff action, the Los Angeles Lakers are facing an impossible task: survive without not one, but both of their top scorers: Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
While the outlook is grim for Los Angeles, hope yet remains that they can pull off an upset, or at least last long enough to see their stars return and give them a chance. On Tuesday, in his latest chat with reporters, Lakers head coach JJ Redick provided another update on their condition, but intentionally kept it vague to maintain the uncertainty of their recovery.
“They’re out indefinitely,” said Redick, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I’m not going to have an update for you this week. They’re out indefinitely.”
The words provided little relief for Lakers fans, who have been hopeless ever since their team’s 43-point blowout loss to the Thunder earlier this month. The good news is, thanks to the leadership of 41-year-old LeBron James, the Lakers still managed to finish fourth in the West (53-29), enough to secure home-court advantage against the Rockets (52-30) in the first round. Despite the overwhelming odds, coach Redick has developed a game plan he believes makes them a serious threat.
“Taking care of the basketball and boxing out, that’s the series,” added Redick, via Daniel Starkand. “The scheme, the personnel, is obviously important, but if we don’t take care of the ball and we don’t box out, then we’re not going to win this series. They were number four in opportunities; we were number 23. We don’t have the luxury, with Luka and AR out, of getting killed in scoring opportunities every single game. We have to box out. We are going to place an emphasis on every drill in practice; we started practice with boxing out today. You have to put it in their mind, and that’s the only thing we set about doing today.”
“Today, it’s about us and having a practice and getting sharp with our stuff. Tomorrow, we’ll introduce personnel,” Redick said. “Thursday, we’ll do our scout like we would, Friday, we’ll do reinforcement of that scout, and Saturday, we’ll be good to go. The only thing we did today was box out and take care of the ball.”
The situation is dire, but not entirely hopeless for Doncic and Reaves. While both players aren’t expected back for weeks (likely until after the first round), they haven’t yet been ruled out to return in the playoffs. Doncic (who is currently sidelined with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain) was hoping to expedite his recovery in a recent trip to Spain, but doctors just confirmed a 35-day recovery timeline, putting Luka out until the second round, at least. In 64 games this season, he averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game on 47.6% shooting and 36.6% shooting from three.
Austin Reaves is in a similar position as he deals with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain. The Lakers guard had already missed a handful of games this season, and now he’s set to miss the next 4-6 weeks as he continues treatment. Reaves has been vital to the Lakers’ offense this season, posting averages of 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game on 49.0% shooting and 36.0% shooting from three.
Now, with all the pressure on LeBron James, the Lakers must dig deep and fight hard to pull off this miracle. It starts today, with a crucial practice that covers two essential factors: rebounding and ball handling. The Rockets have excelled in those areas all season, and that means the Lakers’ key to survival is beating them at their own game. It won’t be easy, but victory is possible if they can stay focused, play together, and stay committed to Redick’s game plan.
