The Los Angeles Lakers will again be without LeBron James on Friday, as the 39-year-old continues to rest his sore left foot, but the team will likely have some more firepower in the lineup. Austin Reaves, who has missed the Lakers' last five games due to a left pelvic contusion after a nasty fall against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 29, has been upgraded to probable for their matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Reaves, 26, played all 82 games last season and had appeared in 129 consecutive regular-season games before this injury.
"I was pissed, to be honest," Reaves told reporters on Friday, via the Orange County Register's Khobi Price. "I kind of wanted to keep that streak going. Just want to be available to get on the court every single night with the guys and go and compete. But you find the positives in everything and one of those was to ... take a week to not just recover the current injury, but just to feel better all in all. That's what we did and I'm feeling good.
The Lakers are 13-11 and eighth in the Western Conference. After a 10-4 start, they lost seven of nine games before a 107-98 win against the Portland Trail Blazers last weekend. Their defense ranks No. 26 in the league, and, according to Cleaning The Glass, their transition defense ranks dead last. Through 24 games, they have been a poor rebounding team on both ends, and they have not been able to increase their 3-point volume the way coach JJ Redick wanted to entering the season.
Reaves' (probable) return will obviously not fix all of that, but he will at least give Los Angeles another capable playmaker. Minnesota's defense has been excellent lately, including in a 109-80 win over the Lakers on Dec. 2.
In 19 games in 2024-25, Reaves has averaged 16.7 points on 57.3% true shooting, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 33.7 minutes per game. So far, this is the least efficient of his four seasons in the NBA, but he has a career-high 21.3% usage rate and has increased his per-possession 3-point volume considerably.
