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Dave McMenamin
Multiple Authors
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — After putting his team through its first practice in preparation for the playoffs, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said Tuesday he doesn’t have any more information about when Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves could return from their respective injuries.
“They’re out indefinitely,” Redick said. “I’m not going to have an update for you this week. They’re out indefinitely.”
Reaves, who is recovering from a Grade 2 left oblique strain, was at the team’s facility and shot free throws after practice with teammates — while wearing slide sandals. After sustaining the injury April 2 in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, his rehab is expected to take four to six weeks, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Doncic is still in Spain, where he has received multiple injections on his Grade 2 left hamstring strain. Sources told ESPN that Doncic will return to L.A. on Friday join his team for Game 1 of its first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
The Lakers will have LeBron James in the lineup, coming off Western Conference Player of the Week honors to help L.A. to a 3-1 week to close out the regular season after their star backcourt was injured, but Redick said the team’s game plan won’t solely be leaning on the 23-year veteran.
“I do think we have other options [other than] just him having the ball and going against a set defense every single possession,” Redick said. “We’ll look to mix in different actions depending on their lineups and their coverages.”
After giving his team an off day Monday, Redick mapped out the rest of the week to prepare for the series opener.
Tuesday “was about us,” Redick said. Wednesday, the coaching staff will introduce the Rockets’ personnel, featuring the NBA’s fifth all-time leading scorer, Kevin Durant; All-Star big man Alperen Sengun; and the 6-foot-7 wing, Amen Thompson, considered to be one of the most athletic players in the league. Then Thursday, the team will do their scout and Friday, reinforce that scout.
“Saturday, we’ll be good to go,” Redick said.
While focusing on his group Tuesday, Redick planned a more active practice that he did last spring leading up to their first-round opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a 117-95 defeat.
“We wanted to reach certain thresholds, and we did,” Redick said, referring to tracking data monitoring his players loads, accelerations and jumps during the session. “Thought the guys had a very business-like, focused approach to today’s practice.”
The one way Redick introduced Houston to the mix was by running his players through a box-out drill.
The Rockets led the league in total rebounds per game (48.1) and offensive rebounds per game (15.0). The Lakers finished 27th.
“Taking care of the basketball and boxing out, that’s the series,” Redick said. “Scheme, personnel, obviously important, but if we don’t take care of the ball and we don’t box out, we’re not going to win the series.”
Lakers backup center Jaxson Hayes, who returned to practice Tuesday after sitting out the past four games because of a sore left foot, said the drill reminded him of his college days at the University of Texas.
And L.A. will have a Texas-sized challenge with this Rockets team.
“I know I can impact the game with my energy: running, getting rebounds, boxing guys out,” Hayes said. “Especially Clint [Capela] and the bigs, I know they’re on the glass heavy, so just making sure I keep them off and doing whatever the team needs me to do.”
