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After a play against Zion Williamson, Lakers’ Austin Reaves went down with a concerning wrist injury, but the guard offered a positive update.
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night by way of a strong fourth quarter, but a concerning moment came when Austin Reaves suffered a wrist injury after a block on Zion Williamson.
While Reaves avoided disaster earlier in the game by moving out of the way on a Williamson drive to the basket, opting out of taking a charge, the guard was seen holding his wrist after going one-on-one with the Pelicans’ forward.
The Lakers ended up calling a timeout, and though Reaves returned and closed out the game, there were questions about his wrist injury after Los Angeles’ win. Speaking to reporters, Reaves poured cold water on any injury concerns.
“I think I just hit my funny bone,” he said postgame. “Whole hand went numb, called timeout, kind of went away. Wanted to play.”
Reaves finished the night with 15 points on 4/15 shooting, along with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks in the 110-101 Lakers’ win.
Austin Reaves On Zion Williamson Plays
At first, the wrist injury to Reaves looked serious, as though he was one of a few players to block Williamson during the contest. It took him a few minutes to get back into rhythm.
But while that was perhaps the most worrying moment of the night for Los Angeles, another nearly disastrous play came earlier in the game when Reaves looked to take a charge against Williamson.
While the New Orleans forward, listed at 284 pounds according to ESPN, went for a drive in the first quarter, Reaves, at only 197 pounds, appeared to prepare to take charge.
However, the Lakers’ guard made sure not to make contact, allowing Williamson to get an easy layup. Speaking after the game, Reaves said that he was ‘terrified‘ and that there was no way he was going to end up taking the charge against one of the heaviest and most powerful players in the league.
“Don’t be scared to get out of the way,” he said. “I was terrified. There was no way in hell I was taking a charge. He was running too fast. I just kind of slid out the way, let him have a layup.“
While there were questions about Williamson’s availability for the game, after a career-high 35 straight games played, he missed the Pelicans’ last contest with an ankle injury. He did suit up to play, finishing with 24 points and four rebounds.
However, he was blocked four times in the game by Reaves, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Jaxson Hayes, all in the fourth quarter of the losing effort.
Lakers Win Three Games In A Row
While the Lakers were fighting with the Pelicans all game, they had a strong fourth quarter and were able to take the victory, now marking a three-game winning streak after losing three games in a row prior.
Speaking postgame, Doncic said that he’s unsure if Los Angeles can keep the momentum going in such an important part of the season.
“It could be the perfect time, or not,” he said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We need to go game by game first of all, and just try to win all those games.”
But now winning three-straight games, the Lakers have a few major matchups coming up, first against the Denver Nuggets, then the Indiana Pacers, followed by two important contests against the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Playing well at this point of the season is key for any team with playoff hopes, but after the major ups and downs for the Lakers this season, having success in March matters a lot.
Currently, Los Angeles is 37-24 and sixth in the West, but could easily either move up to the third seed or drop down into the Play-In Tournament, with just 21 games to go in the regular season.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
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