The Los Angeles Lakers head into Game 3 of their first round playoff series with a 2-0 lead over the Houston Rockets. In Game 1, Luke Kennard exploded for a career playoff-high 27 points while LeBron James added 19 points and 13 assists in a 107-98 win. James turned it up as a scorer in Game 2 with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Marcus Smart chipped in 25, including five threes, as the Lakers took care of Houston again on Tuesday.
Los Angeles has earned these two wins despite playing without Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique). ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Reaves has begun one-on-one on-court work and is further along in his recovery, with a theoretical late-series or early-second-round window. Doncic, however, remains out indefinitely and the Lakers don’t expect him back for this series at all.
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Amid these two huge absences came another scare Tuesday night. With 5:05 left in the fourth quarter of Game 2, Jake LaRavia limped to the locker room with an apparent right leg issue. He didn’t return and finished the night with zero points, two rebounds and a block in 16 minutes.
On Thursday, JJ Redick provided an update on LaRavia ahead of a pivotal Game 3.
“He has a very, very low grade, minor, minor, minor ankle sprain,” Redick said via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. He also confirmed that an MRI came back clean but LaRavia’s status is day-to-day.
LaRavia’s contributions in the series have been modest, but the Lakers simply cannot afford to lose another piece with Doncic and Reaves still recovering. The 24-year-old signed a two-year, $12 million deal with Los Angeles last summer and played all 82 games during the regular season. LaRavia averaged 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists, and can provide bench scoring while also helping the team on defense when at his best.
Game 3 is set for Friday in Houston at 8 p.m. ET, with an update on LaRavia’s status expected before tip-off.
