Lakers injury updates on Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton

As Lakers coach JJ Redick talked after Monday’s practice about the long list of players who would be rostered daily for Tuesday night’s game in Phoenix, he at least knew center Deandre Ayton would be back after missing two games with left elbow soreness.

Redick said Luka Doncic (left leg bruise), Austin Reaves (mild left calf strain) and Rui Hachimura (right groin soreness) are day-to-day. Gabe Vincent (lower back tightness), however, is expected to be out longer.

Redick said Doncic was injured when he was hit by Clippers guard Bagdan Bogdanovic during Saturday night’s loss at the Intuit Dome.
Redick said the Lakers noticed that Doncic, who leads the NBA in scoring (34.1) and is fourth in assists (8.8), was often hit in the lower leg during games.

“It could just be a de-ce. I don’t know,” Redick said, referring to the way Doncic decelerates with the ball in his hands. “The way he uses his body? I don’t know. … We’re talking about looking for ways to potentially protect against those collisions, sort of.”

Reaves, who is 10th with 27.8 points, has missed the last three games. He was on the court shooting after Monday’s practice, and Redick was asked what it would take for his guard to get back into games.

“Given the nature of this area, I think it’s when he feels 100 percent confident and doesn’t feel pain,” Redick said. “It’s fun, guys. It’s fun. It’s fun. It’s a fun day to talk about injuries.”

Redick said there was no real update on Hachimura’s injury, but that Ayton was a full participant in practice.

Ayton, who is second in the NBA in completion percentage (71%) and averages 15.3 points and 9.0 rebounds, was asked if he played against his former team, the Suns. He averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first two matchups.

“Most definitely,” he said. “I’m straight. Most definitely.”