The Lakers got the best version of bad news on Friday. Austin Reaves has a bruised heel and is day-to-day, JJ Redick said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, and Reaves and the medical staff decided he didn’t need more imaging. Two days earlier he had hurt his left heel on a dunk attempt early in the third quarter in Milwaukee and never came back, per NBA.com.
Now the part where I tell the Lakers what to do with good news: sit him Sunday in Phoenix anyway. Day-to-day means he might be able to play, and this team doesn’t need him to. Give Reaves the Suns game off, bring him back Tuesday at home against Charlotte, and let the extra days off settle the heel.
What We Know as of Friday
The Los Angeles Times’ Thuc Nhi Nguyen reported that Reaves’ X-rays in Milwaukee were negative, and that by Thursday morning, back in Los Angeles after a 3-0 road trip, he felt good enough that he and the team skipped further imaging. Redick gave the update after practice Friday.
The rest of the injury list moved the right way too. Luka Doncic is “fine” after twisting his right ankle late in Wednesday’s win, per the Times. Collin Sexton is day-to-day after getting stitches in his forehead, and Redick said the team ruled out a concussion. Quentin Grimes, who missed two games with a sprained finger on his right hand, took part in the live portion of the team’s stay-ready game and said he expects to play Sunday.
“I had a really good day just playing with a little wrap over it,” Grimes said, per the Times.
The Lakers are 11-2, first in the West and a half-game ahead of San Antonio, per Basketball Reference. They also have multiple days off between games for the first time this season, and they don’t play again until Sunday afternoon.
Why One Game Is Worth Giving Up
I’m not arguing that the Lakers are fine without Reaves. They aren’t. In 424 minutes with him on the floor, they’ve outscored opponents by 14.9 points per 100 possessions, per Basketball Reference’s on-off numbers. In the 201 minutes he’s sat, they’ve been outscored by 4.6. The offense drops from 128.1 points per 100 possessions to 114.1 when he leaves. He’s averaging 24.7 points on 51.3% shooting, 40.9% from three and 91.5% at the line, in 35.3 minutes a night.
That’s exactly why I’d protect him. A guard who plays 35 minutes, attacks the basket and gets to the free-throw line 6.8 times a game puts that heel through a lot of hard landings. The Lakers know what a season of nagging soft-tissue problems looks like with him. Reaves played 51 games last season, a year that included multiple calf strains and a left oblique strain late in the year, per NBA.com. Before that he had played 73 and 82, per his Basketball Reference page. The 51 is the number to avoid repeating.
The schedule makes the decision easy. After Phoenix, the Lakers play Charlotte at home Tuesday, then Utah at home Wednesday, then Sacramento at home Friday, per Basketball Reference’s schedule. The Suns are 5-6, Charlotte is 4-8, and Utah and Sacramento have combined for two wins. If Reaves sits Sunday, he gets six days between Wednesday’s injury and Tuesday’s tip, and he comes back into three home games against teams with losing records. If he plays Sunday and the heel flares, the Lakers are guessing about his status through a back-to-back.
The Lakers Already Showed They Can Survive One Night
There’s a recent test case. Reaves missed the Nov. 9 game in Atlanta with an illness, and Grimes was out with the finger, per the Times’ game story. The Lakers won 124-114 on the second night of a back-to-back. Doncic had 32 points and 10 assists, and Sexton added 18 points and six assists. After that game, I wrote that Sexton and Sandro Mamukelashvili had to keep sharing the creation, and Sunday is the next chance to show it wasn’t a one-off.
Phoenix would also come with Grimes back, if his own read on the finger holds. That’s one more guard than Redick had in Atlanta. Grimes is averaging 26.1 minutes in his 11 games, per Basketball Reference, and he can soak up the backcourt minutes. I’d still like to see him let it fly on the open threes Redick wants him to take, because Sunday is a good night to find out if he will.
The Catch Is Luka’s Minutes
Sitting Reaves only works if Redick doesn’t hand all of Reaves’ work to Doncic. Doncic is averaging 38.6 points in 35.9 minutes, per Basketball Reference, he’s coming off his own ankle twist in Milwaukee, and he sat out last Sunday’s game in Detroit with lower-back tightness, per the Times. I argued before the season that the Lakers should cap Doncic around 34 minutes because the season is about April, and that still applies on a Sunday in Phoenix. If the plan for life without Reaves is 40 minutes of Doncic, the Lakers are swapping one injury risk for a bigger one.
The other piece is the defense. The Lakers have already been leaking threes, which I covered after Milwaukee in the piece on Walker Kessler walling off the rim. Without Reaves, the offense has less margin to cover for it. I’d rather Redick lose a close game in Phoenix with Doncic at 34 minutes than win it with Doncic at 40.
Reaves might well be able to play Sunday. The Lakers don’t need to find out in Phoenix. They’re 11-2, and they won without him on Monday. Saturday’s injury report should say out, and Tuesday against Charlotte should be his first game back.