Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves took a scary fall late in the second quarter of his team’s 101-93 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. Thankfully, he was able to return to the game in the second half and didn’t appear to be significantly hindered.
The L.A. Times’ Dan Woike reported on Saturday that Reaves underwent an MRI which showed no structural damage on his back. The fourth-year guard traveled with the team to Utah for their game against the Jazz on Sunday, but his status is to be determined.
“Vantage point on the play was an airborne player and he made a play on the ball and that’s why I stopped dunking very early in my life,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after Friday’s game. “Clear that he couldn’t go in the first half. He’s tough as nails and I thought he moved fine, wasn’t really in the flow of the game cause of that and not getting to start the second half. He’ll be in some pain tomorrow and we’ll just have to assess going forward.”
With just over three and a half minutes remaining in the first half, Reaves faked a handoff with teammate Max Christie, which completely fooled the Thunder. He had a clear runway to the rim and tried to get there ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein, who were desperately trying to recover from the weakside. The three converged at the basket at the same time, and the force of the collision sent Reaves crashing to the floor, where he landed directly on his back.
After being attended to by the Lakers’ medical staff, Reaves briefly stayed in the game. He made both of his free throws and attempted a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, but he was not moving well. At the next dead ball, he checked out of the game and immediately made his way to the locker room.
It certainly seemed as though Reaves was done for the night, especially when he did not come out of the locker room to start the second half. However, he returned to the bench in the middle of the third quarter and checked in with 6:17 remaining in the frame. He finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Reaves has taken another step forward this season and entered Friday averaging a career-high 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game on 37% shooting from behind the arc. He’s third on the team in scoring behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis and behind only James in assists. He’s also been an iron man for the Lakers, playing in all 18 games so far this season after suiting up for all 82 last year.
Losing him for any period of time would have been bad news for the Lakers, who have been on a roller coaster ride through the first five weeks of the season. After winning six games in a row earlier this month, they’ve now lost four of their last five to fall to 11-8, which has them in sixth place in the crowded Western Conference.
