Jazz Lakers Basketball

Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will not return from injury in time to begin the Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets. That leaves Los Angeles without its top two scorers. Coach JJ Redick says they're both out indefinitely, and there won't be an update on their condition this week. Doncic strained a hamstring and Reaves strained an oblique on April 2 in Oklahoma City, and neither returned during the regular season. The Lakers host the Rockets in Game 1 on Saturday night. Doncic and Reaves combined to average 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 12.4 rebounds per game when healthy this season.

Austin Reaves has been upgraded to questionable for Game 3 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets. The Lakers made the designation on their high-scoring guard Thursday while the team flew to Houston. Los Angeles has a surprising 2-0 series lead heading into Game 3 despite playing without Luka Doncic and Reaves, its top two scorers. Reaves hasn’t played for the Lakers since he strained his oblique muscles and Doncic strained his hamstrings in a game at Oklahoma City on April 2, but he returned to on-court basketball activities over the past few days.