The Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 123-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, but the win came at a cost. Three of the Lakers’ main rotation players, Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic and Collin Sexton, all suffered second-half injury scares.
Reaves exits with heel injury
Reaves’s injury was the most serious. He landed awkwardly after a missed fast-break dunk with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter and returned after a timeout. He subbed himself out with 5:20 left in the third, limped off the court and was accompanied to the back by Lakers medical personnel. He did not return. Before he left, Reaves had 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting, five assists and three steals in 25 minutes.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said X-rays taken on Reaves’s heel at the arena were negative. Redick added that the team would not know more about Reaves’s status until he undergoes further evaluation when the squad returns to Los Angeles on Thursday. He did, however, rule out any concerns about Reaves’s Achilles tendon. “No update on AR until we’ll have imaging tomorrow,” Redick said.
Doncic and Sexton also affected
Doncic turned his right ankle with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. He was attempting a long jump shot when the Bucks’ Kyle Kuzma made leg-to-leg contact while fouling him. The ankle appeared to avoid serious damage. Doncic finished with 32 points. “I’m good,” he said. “Obviously painful a little bit, but I’ll be fine.”
Sexton also left the game. He bumped heads with Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins with 6:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, and Redick said the backup guard needed stitches above his right eye.
Next-man-up mentality
Doncic summed up the mood in the visitors’ locker room by stressing the need for depth. “I think we just got to have next-man-up mentality,” he said. “Obviously, we lose a very, very good player. Hopefully it’s not — it’s nothing. We got to have next-man-up mentality.”
The Lakers have some time to recover. They do not play again until Sunday, when they face the Phoenix Suns on the road.