LOS ANGELES — Lakers guard Gabe Vincent is expected to miss two to four weeks after undergoing an MRI on his sprained left ankle Monday, sources told ESPN.
Vincent suffered the injury early in the third quarter of L.A.’s 127-120 road win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. He left the arena in a walking boot, and he told ESPN that X-rays taken after the game came back negative.
He arrived at Crypto.com Arena on crutches for Monday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Vincent started L.A.’s first three games of the season in place of LeBron James, who has been out because of sciatica affecting his lower back and right side.
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Vincent, 29, earned the spot after a strong preseason, in which he averaged 16.3 points on 47.4% shooting (55.6% from 3), 3.0 assists and 1.0 rebounds in four games.
Beyond Vincent and James, the Lakers were heavily undermanned against the Blazers.
Marcus Smart, who started in place of Luka Doncic in Sacramento, also was out because of a right quad contusion. Doncic missed his second straight game because of a left finger sprain and lower left leg contusion, and Jaxson Hayes missed his second straight game because of left patellar tendinopathy. Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle strain) and rookie Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) have yet to be available this season.
With James and Doncic out, Austin Reaves exploded for a career-high 51 points in Sacramento on Sunday.
“We’re not expecting Austin to go out and score 51 again,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said before the Blazers game. “I don’t expect anybody to do more than they’re capable of doing. What we challenged the guys on before the game was playing with an edge.”
The Lakers had only seven full-time players available Monday, plus three players on two-way contracts.
L.A. started Reaves, Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jake LaRavia against Portland, using the third different starting lineup through four games.
