JJ Redick Eases Lakers' Worry With Key Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves Injury Updates

The Los Angeles Lakers came out of Milwaukee on Wednesday with a 123-112 win, their seventh in a row, but they also came out of it with two of their best players hurt.

Guard Austin Reaves landed awkwardly on his left foot after missing a dunk in the third quarter and did not return, while guard Luka Doncic turned his right ankle late in the fourth quarter.

Head coach JJ Redick gave updates on both players after practice in El Segundo on Friday, and the news was as good as the team could have hoped for.

Reaves had clean X-rays at the arena on Wednesday, and Redick said right after the win that there was no concern about his Achilles.

Once the team got back to Los Angeles, Reaves and the staff checked how he felt on Thursday morning and decided together that more imaging on the foot was not needed.

Redick walked through that choice with reporters on Friday and said Reaves has a bruise on his heel.

"Based on his physical evaluation and how he was feeling yesterday, we opted against imaging. He'll be day-to-day."

When someone asked if that made it a minor injury, Redick told reporters he would assume a day-to-day injury is minor.

Reaves is averaging 24.7 points per game on 51.3% shooting, so even a short absence would leave a big hole in the backcourt.

Redick said Doncic is fine and that the expectation is he will be available on Sunday in Phoenix, which is a big relief for a team that leans on him this much.

Doncic leads the NBA at 38.6 points per game, and he finished with 32 points against the Bucks before he left late.

Redick had already played down the ankle right after that win, so Friday just backed him up.

Guard Collin Sexton needed stitches above his right eye after he and Milwaukee guard Ryan Rollins bumped heads by accident, but he was cleared of any concussion symptoms and is day-to-day.

Guard Quentin Grimes has missed the last two games with a sprained right pinkie, but he did the live part of a team scrimmage on Friday and said he expects to return against the Suns.

Fans had good reason to worry, because the Lakers have been here before.

Last season, both Doncic and Reaves got hurt in a loss at Oklahoma City on April 2, and while Reaves came back on April 29, Doncic did not play again that season.

This time the Lakers seem to have dodged it.

They are 11-2, second in the West and level with San Antonio for the top mark in the conference, and Sunday's game against a 5-6 Phoenix team is the last stop of a four-game road trip before home games against Charlotte on Tuesday and Utah on Wednesday.

There are a few players who could step up if needed, but I would much rather see this team at full strength.

The official injury report for the Suns game comes out on Saturday, and if Reaves and Doncic both show up on it as available, I like the Lakers' chances of stretching this seven-game streak.