Luka Doncic He sat out Sunday’s game against Detroit with lower back tightness, but Austin Reeves did a lot of Doncic-type things in the Lakers“the road to victory,” he writes ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. Reaves took over as the primary scorer and took care of the league’s best defense, scoring 43 points on 14-of-27 shooting.
“Guys need to step up when someone’s in their mid-40s,” Colin Sexton said of Doncic, who is averaging 40.1 ppg on the season. “You have to fill your shoes and be ready to make an impact in a win. And I felt like we did that tonight and AR took those shoes and put them on.”
The Lakers improved to 9-2 and won both games without Doncic, even as he put up MVP-level numbers. coach Jay Jay Reddick said he’s not worried about Doncic’s back becoming a long-term problem and indicated he’ll likely return for tonight’s game in Atlanta.
“I mean Luke’s game, Austin’s game: Lakers win” Walker Kessler said. “I don’t know if it really feels any different. They’re both incredible players to play together and they hit really, really hard.”
More on Los Angeles teams:
- Redick told reporters about it Quentin Grimes “snapped his toe” during Sunday’s game, but X-rays were negative, according to The Athletic’s Dan Woyk (Link to Twitter). Grimes, who was an important part of the bench in his first season with the Lakersreplaced Doncic in the starting lineup on Sunday.
- The Clippers got a much-needed win over New Orleans on Sunday, snapping a seven-game losing streak that has put them at the bottom of the West, notes Janice Carr of The Orange County Register (subscriber link). Darius Garland talked about how he was “desperate” to get a win to turn the season around, and the coach Tyrone Lue was glad to see his team extend their lead late in the contest rather than let another game slip away. “We kept our composure and got tougher instead of going the other way and thinking, ‘Oh, here we go again.'” Liu said. “… We had the right intentions and we got our mojo back.”
- Wounded Clippers Brandon Ingram and Yannick Conan Niederhauser both are playing five-on-five in practice, but they will not accompany the team to Phoenix for Tuesday’s game, reporter Justin Russo tweets. Isaiah Jackson is considered day-to-day with a groin problem and did not play Sunday, Rusa adds Blake Wesley returned to the G League team’s San Diego affiliate after struggling Contract for 10 days ended.
