Austin Reaves Injured As Lakers Win Seventh In A Row

The Lakers won their seventh straight game. They could lose something bigger.

Star guard Austin Reaves left Wednesday’s 123-112 win over the Milwaukee Bucks with a left heel injury and did not return.

Reaves, who scored 18 points with five assists and three steals, landed awkwardly on a blocked dunk attempt during the third quarter but stayed in the game despite appearing to be in discomfort on the bench during an ensuing timeout. He remained in the game for three minutes before appearing to aggravate the injury on a drive toward the basket. He asked to sub himself out on the next possession.

Reaves’ initial X-rays were negative, Lakers coach JJ Redick said, and the guard, averaging a career-best 23.5 points on 50.8% shooting, will undergo further imaging. Initial tests have ruled out any potential Achilles injury, Redick said.

The Lakers finished their first extended trip of the season unscathed in the standings, improving to 11-2 and still the best record in the league, but had to limp across the finish line Wednesday after injuries struck.

Guard Collin Sexton received an eyebrow’s worth of stitches over his right eye after knocking heads with Milwaukee Bucks guard Ryan Rollins with 6:51 remaining in the fourth quarter. Sexton’s sudden departure forced Luka Doncic to re-enter a 20-point game.

Two-and-a-half minutes later, Doncic turned his ankle while getting fouled by Kyle Kuzma on a long two-point jumper.

Doncic, who led the Lakers with 32 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals, grabbed at his right ankle immediately. Lakers staff members tended to him while Kuzma’s foul was reviewed for a potential flagrant, but Doncic stayed in the game to shoot the free throw. He got subbed out right after.

Doncic said after the game he felt fine. Now he just has to wait for news on his backcourt running mate.

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“We just gotta have next-man-up mentality,” Doncic said of the potential of playing without Reaves. “Obviously we lose a very, very good player. Hopefully ... it’s nothing. We gotta have next-man-up mentality.”

Reaves just signed a maximum contract extension this summer and was off to a career year. He is the 15th-leading scorer in the NBA, and he and Doncic (38.6 points per game) form the highest-scoring pair of teammates in the league. Reaves is also averaging 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting a career-best 41.3% from three-point range.

Reaves, who played almost an entire game on what turned into a Grade 2 oblique strain suffered last April against Oklahoma City, had missed the Lakers’ previous game against the Atlanta Hawks because of illness.

Guard Quentin Grimes missed his second consecutive game Wednesday with a sprained finger on his right hand. Grimes was questionable for Wednesday’s game, but still had swelling, Redick said, which could have affected the right-handed guard’s shooting.

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Forward Sandro Mamukelashvili delivered for the shorthanded Lakers both nights, scoring 23 points of the bench for the second consecutive game Wednesday. The Georgian forward went 11 for 35 from three-point range during the first 11 games of the season and suddenly found his shooting stroke with consecutive five-of-eight nights against the Hawks and Bucks.

Mamukelashvili helped lift the Lakers through a five-day stretch that Redick said felt more like three weeks. Last Friday, the Lakers played the Portland Trail Blazers at home in an NBA Cup game and have since climbed to the top of the NBA standings, won two games against teams in the top half of the Eastern Conference and watched both of their star guards leave a game with injuries.

“We’re all ready to go home,” said center Walker Kessler, who had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double in eight games. “I’ll just say that.”

Battered and bruised from a tiring rip, the Lakers return home for a brief respite. The Lakers will have multiple days of rest before their next game Sunday at Phoenix. They don’t face a team with a winning record until Nov. 27. The road game in San Antonio figures to be a marquee showdown between Western Conference title contenders.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.