After reports surfaced on Monday, April 13 that Los Angeles Lakers stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are inching closer to their returns from injuries, head coach JJ Redick made it clear on Tuesday, April 14 that there will be no further updates in the near future.
“Look, they’re out indefinitely,” Redick told reporters during his media availability at Tuesday’s practice. “I’m not gonna have an update for you this week. They’re out indefinitely.”
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NBA insider Marc Stein confirmed an earlier report that Doncic is scheduled to return to the Lakers on Friday and will be re-evaluated after undergoing multiple injection procedures in Spain in hopes of accelerating his recovery from a grade 2 left hamstring strain.
Reaves, meanwhile, has been rehabbing a grade 2 left oblique muscle strain in Los Angeles. Both Reaves and Doncic sustained their injuries during a blowout loss in Oklahoma City on April 2 and missed the rest of the regular season and will likely be out through at least the first round of the playoffs, where the No. 4-seeded Lakers will take on the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets.
While they’re considered out indefinitely, both injuries usually carry a standard recovery window of about four-to-six weeks, which would sideline Doncic and Reaves through the first week of May. It’s currently unclear how effective the treatment Doncic got in Spain actually was or if it impacted his timeline at all, and it most likely won’t be known until after his re-evaluation at the end of the week.
What is a grade 2 hamstring strain?
A Grade 2 hamstring strain is a “moderate injury that is typically a partial tear in the muscle; patients are likely to limp when walking and will have occasional twinges of pain during activity,” according to Mercy Health.
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The injury could take close to a month to heal, but “returning to sports before the injury is fully healed can cause more severe injuries.”
What is a grade 2 oblique strain?
A grade 2 oblique strain is another moderate strain in which “one of the abdominal muscles (internal or external oblique muscles) becomes frayed, torn or detached, often from the lower four ribs,” according to Performance Place. The injury makes it painful for someone to breathe, cough and laugh and is common among baseball players and golfers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves injury updates, latest on Lakers stars
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