The Los Angeles Lakers will be without LeBron James again on Friday, as the 39-year-old continues to rest his painful left footbut the team will likely have more firepower in the lineup. Austin Reaves, who missed the Lakers’ last five games with a left pelvic contusion after a bad fall against the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 29, was upgraded to probable for their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Reaves, 26, played in all 82 games last season and appeared in 129 consecutive regular-season games before this injury.
“I was pissed, to be honest,” Reaves told reporters Friday. via Orange County Register Khobi Price. “I kind of wanted to continue that streak. I just wanted to be available to go on the field every night with the guys and go compete. But you find the positive in everything and one of them was… taking a week, not only to recover from my current injury, but just to feel better overall. That’s what we did and I feel great.
The Lakers are 13-11 and eighth in the Western Conference. After a 10-4 start, they lost seven of nine games before winning 107-98 against the Portland Trail Blazers last weekend. Their defense ranks 26th in the league and, according to Cleaning The Glass, their transition defense ranks dead last. Through 24 games, they have been a mediocre rebounding team on both ends, and they haven’t been able to increase their 3-point volume like coach JJ Redick wanted to start the season.
Reaves’ (probable) return obviously won’t fix all of that, but it will at least give Los Angeles another capable playmaker. Minnesota’s defense has been excellent as of late, including a 109-80 win over the Lakers on December 2.
In 19 games in 2024-25, Reaves averaged 16.7 points on 57.3% true shooting, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 33.7 minutes per game. It’s the least efficient of his four seasons in the NBA so far, but he has a career-high 21.3% usage rate and has significantly increased his 3-point volume per possession.
