DALLAS \u2014 The sun rose over Dallas on Saturday morning and the Lakers were introduced to their stark new reality.<\/p>\n
Luka Doncic suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain\u00a0on Thursday in the Lakers\u2019 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>, is\u00a0out indefinitely and will miss the remainder of the regular season<\/a>, the team announced Friday. They also announced Saturday afternoon, after Saturday\u2019s practice and media availability, that Austin Reaves will also be unavailable for the rest of the regular season<\/a>, having suffered a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury.<\/p>\n Doncic and Reaves are unlikely to play in the first round of the NBA playoffs, considering the average time of recovery for their respective injuries. Five games remain on the schedule, and Lakers coach JJ Redick<\/a> now doesn\u2019t have much of a choice.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have the luxury of overreacting,\u201d Redick said before Reaves\u2019 injury status was known. \u201cI don\u2019t have the luxury of overreacting to an OKC blowout. I don\u2019t have the luxury of overreacting to Luka getting hurt. My job has to be focusing on who\u2019s available and and getting those guys in a position to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n Those changes force LeBron James to again become the face of the Lakers\u2019 schemes, just weeks after the team churned out a 15-2 record in March when the 41-year-old spent time making the smaller effort-based plays in the shadow of Doncic\u2019s Western Conference Player of the Month display.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge for us,\u201d James said while the Lakers were still waiting for results on Reaves\u2019 MRI. \u201cIt\u2019s always got to be a next-man-up (mentality). But there\u2019s no way you can replace that type of impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Redick admitted that a priority at Saturday\u2019s practice was making sure his team was in the \u201cright frame of mind.\u201d Forward Rui Hachimura said the practice was an opportunity for a reset. With Doncic\u2019s injury and losing to the Thunder by 43 points, the Japanese forward said the Lakers (50-27) \u201cneeded\u201d the pair of off days to refocus.<\/p>\n Reaves\u2019 absence is now a part of the Lakers\u2019 equation for the final five regular-season games and at least the first round of the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n Indefinitely playing without Doncic and Reaves is a hurdle that the Lakers, who are holding off the Denver Nuggets for the third seed in the Western Conference by just a game in the standings, couldn\u2019t have expected, predicted or prepared for, especially with their start of the playoffs exactly two weeks away.<\/p>\n From a strategic standpoint, Redick said, the Lakers have no choice but to play differently. That means playing through James, Hachimura, center Deandre Ayton and bench swingman Luke Kennard, he said.<\/p>\n James said he expects his role on the team to change going forward; and that when his role changes, it does require a mindset change. No matter how the Lakers go about rotations in the final five regular-season games, James is clear: There\u2019s no replacing a player such as Doncic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no filling it,\u201d said James, who is averaging 20.6 points per game across 56 games this season, the third-best mark on the team behind Doncic and Austin Reaves.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, you got a guy who\u2019s averaging 35 plus (points) and eight (assists) and seven (seven rebounds) and doing the things that he\u2019s doing. You don\u2019t replace that or try to even fill that. I think it\u2019s up to all of us \u2013 whoever is in the lineup \u2013 to pick up our play.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lakers\u2019 present offensive options don\u2019t include Marcus Smart<\/a>, who will miss another game Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks (24-53), Redick said.<\/p>\n Smart is still dealing with ankle soreness from when\u00a0Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze fell on the Lakers\u2019 veteran guard<\/a> two weeks ago, and will miss his seventh consecutive game.<\/p>\n Redick says the Lakers plan on bringing guard Dalton Knecht and two-way guards Kobe Bufkin and Nick Smith Jr. back into the fold as the statuses of Reaves (the second ball handler behind Doncic) and Smart (the third option) statuses were in limbo.<\/p>\n Now, Reaves is no longer available, and Smart\u2019s future status is still unknown.<\/p>\n All three reserve guards are due to arrive Sunday, Redick said, and he plans on running rotations with more players than the eight- or nine-man rotations that the Lakers had featured in recent weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll probably have to play a 10- and 11-man rotation,\u201d Redick said.<\/p>\n James on Memphis, NBA cities and hotels<\/p>\n While golfing in a\u00a0video released earlier this week<\/a>\u00a0on the Bob Does Sports YouTube channel, James criticized the city of Memphis when discussing road trips that teams take to face the Memphis Grizzlies. He mentioned his disdain for the hotel that NBA teams stay at, as well as inferring that the team should relocate to Nashville, Tennessee\u2019s capital city where the NFL\u2019s Tennessee Titans and NHL\u2019s Nashville Predators are based.<\/p>\n