After suffering an injury during the Los Angeles Lakers’ season opener against the Golden State Warriors, star guard Luka Dončić was a full participant at practice on Thursday.
Austin Reaves also participated in everything but the live full-team portion of practice after tweaking his ankle on Tuesday, and head coach JJ Redick said he’s hopeful Reaves will be available on Friday.
Neither player was listed on the team’s official injury report on Thursday:
Dončić suffered a groin injury in the 119-109 loss, but he downplayed the severity of it after the game.
“It’s probably nothing,” he told reporters. “Just felt it a little bit because my hip went [the opposite] way. Felt it a little bit, but it’s probably nothing.”
Redick also didn’t seemed concerned about the injury.
“He seems to be fine. I don’t think it’s anything major,” Redick told reporters on Wednesday. “He got some treatment this morning and we didn’t practice long, but he was a participant in practice.”
As for Reaves, Redick couldn’t offer a definitive answer about whether he will play against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
“It’s not really a thing where I can say he’s going to be out a couple games or he’s going to play tomorrow,” Redick said. “It’s simple, literally how he feels tomorrow. I know Austin, I’m gonna expect him to play.”
The Lakers can’t afford to be without Dončić or Reaves, considering star forward LeBron James is sidelined until mid-November because of sciatica in his right side.
Both Dončić and Reaves did their part on Tuesday, with Dončić posting 43 points, 12 boards and nine assists and Reaves collecting 26 points and nine assists, but it wasn’t enough to get past Golden State with their supporting cast not doing much.
Los Angeles will look to pick up its first win of the year against Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves, but being without Dončić or Reaves would make that a difficult task.
