A manager throwing the players under the bus, injured stars, and unrest in the camp. It’s safe to say that the Los Angeles Lakers are not having a very merry Christmas.
In their recent game against the Houston Rockets, manager JJ Redick fumed in the postgame press conference after watching his players limp to a 119-96 defeat, lambasting the fact that they “don’t care enough”.
Like a child off sick so he doesn’t receive class punishment, Austin Reaves will be secretly delighted that he didn’t have to bear the brunt of Redick’s red mist, as he went off injured during the game with a sore calf.
What injury does Austin Reaves have? Will he play in the Lakers’ next game?
Redick had basically no information on Reaves’ condition, preferring to focus on the state of the team as the whole: “The two words of the day were effort and execution,” he said. “And I feel like when we’ve done both of those things at a high level, we’ve been a good basketball team.
“We’re a terrible basketball team”
“When we haven’t, we’re a terrible basketball team. And tonight we were a terrible basketball team. And that started legitimately right away.”
Houston rebounded the Lakers 48-25 overall throughout the game, something Redick said was caused by the fact that “we don’t care enough right now.”
As for Reaves’ season, he is averaging 27.3 points per game, despite missing three games with a calf issue before returning against Phoenix on Tuesday. Against the Rockets, Reaves started the match yet only managed 15 minutes in the first half before leaving the court, scoring 12 points on five-for-eight shooting.
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Up next for the Los Angeles Lakers is the Sacramento Kings, who they play on Sunday. The game against their California rivals could not come at a better time, as the Kings are rock-bottom of the Western Conference, having won only 7 of 30 games all season.
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