Austin Reaves is reportedly day-to-day with calf injury
After exiting Friday’s game against the Clippers due to calf soreness, it seems Austin Reaves’ injury isn’t too serious and he’ll be day-to-day moving forward.
Austin Reaves exited Friday’s game early with calf soreness, putting his status for Sunday’s rematch against the Clippers in question. Luckily for the Lakers, it seems he has avoided a worst-case scenario, as Shams Charania of ESPN has reported that his MRI revealed no serious injury to his calf.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves will be day-to-day after MRI on his right calf revealed no serious injury, sources tell ESPN. His status is uncertain for Sunday against the Clippers, but great development overall after Reaves exited early in Friday's win.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 2, 2025
While Shams didn’t know Reaves’ status for Sunday’s game at the time of his reporting, the Lakers have since released their injury report and have listed him as doubtful to play against the Clippers.
LeBron James and Luka Dončić are also on the injury report and are listed as questionable to play.
Lakers Injury Report: LeBron James (left foot injury management) and Luka Dončić (left calf injury management) are questionable to play vs. Clippers. Austin Reaves (right calf strain) is listed as doubtful pic.twitter.com/Rft1fN0VQt
— Edwin Garcia (@ECreates88) March 2, 2025
Considering the alternative, hearing that Reaves is day-to-day is excellent news.
This season, Reaves has emerged as a top-three scorer on the team and is having a career year, averaging 19.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.
Given how much he helps run the offense and his quality on both sides of the ball, Los Angeles needs him to be healthy and playing as much as possible for the month of March.
Considering that he’s day-to-day, he should be re-joining the team sooner rather than later.
Though it’s possible he plays on Sunday, being listed as doubtful indicates that he’ll likely miss the game. If he does rest his calf on Sunday, he’ll have another chance to play on Tuesday when the Lakers face the New Orleans Pelicans at home.
Overall, Reaves has been as dependable as they come health-wise. Last season, he played all 82 games and this year, he’s only missed five games back in December due to a pelvic contusion.
So, it seems the Lakers have avoided disaster and if Reaves does miss any time, it will be minimal.
The Lakers deserve a ton of credit for recognizing his calf issues and making the tough decision to pull him in the middle of a heated contest against their local rival. By doing so, they may have avoided a major injury to one of their key players.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.