The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 123-112 on Wednesday, extending their winning streak to seven games and improving to 11-2, but both starting guards were hurt along the way. Austin Reaves exited in the third quarter with a left heel injury, and Luka Dončić turned his right ankle late in the fourth.
Three rotation players had second-half injury scares in all. Dončić scored 32 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili supplied 23 off the bench as the Lakers completed their third consecutive road win.
Reaves came down awkwardly on a missed fastbreak dunk with 8:21 left in the third quarter, returned after a timeout and then took himself out at the 5:20 mark, finishing with 18 points. JJ Redick said X-rays taken at the arena came back negative and ruled out any concern about the Achilles, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Reaves was scheduled for further imaging once the team returned to Los Angeles on Thursday.
Dončić turned his ankle with 4:25 left in the fourth after contact with Kyle Kuzma’s foot following a three-point attempt, and he did not return. “I’m good,” he said afterward. “Obviously, it’s painful a little bit, but I’ll be fine.” Redick said Dončić had suffered only a “slight tweak.”
Reserve guard Collin Sexton left with 6:51 remaining in the fourth after bumping heads with Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins and needed stitches above his right eye, Redick said.
A League-Best Record Built on Two Guards Who Both Got Hurt the Same Night
The Lakers have reached 11-2, the best record in the NBA, largely on Dončić and Reaves carrying the scoring load — and both have already missed time this season, Reaves to an illness against Atlanta and Dončić to low back tightness.
Having both pick up new injuries in the same game, on top of Sexton’s eye cut, means the bench depth that has carried stretches of this streak is about to be tested without full knowledge of how much of the regular backcourt will be available. A seven-game winning streak built on two stars is only as durable as the health of those two stars, and for now that health is unresolved rather than confirmed fine.
Three Days Off Buys the Lakers Time They Would Not Otherwise Have
Reaves’ imaging on Thursday is the immediate data point the team is waiting on, and it will determine whether he is available when the Lakers next play. Los Angeles does not play again until Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Phoenix Suns, a three-day gap that doubles as recovery time.
Dončić’s ankle has not been described as requiring further testing, with the team instead pointing to that break as time to recover.
Source: Dave McMenamin of ESPN
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