The Lakers expect to have a fully healthy roster when their post-All-Star schedule tips off on Friday vs. the Clippers, according to Benjamin Royer of the Southern California News Group (subscription required). Luka Doncic is set to return after missing the team’s past four games due to a hamstring strain, while Austin Reaves will no longer face a minutes restriction after having come back from a calf strain in early February.
It will be just the 11th time this season that Doncic, Reaves, and LeBron James have been active for the same game. The Lakers are 7-3 in their first 10 contests with that trio healthy.
“It’s funny, we were talking before the season about building continuity with those three guys, and we’ve had them available together for 10 games,” head coach JJ Redick said on Thursday, per Royer. “My messaging this morning to the players was this is going to be a sprint, these last 28 games. It’s another segment of the season where, starting (Friday), we won’t have more than a day between games until the end of March. So we’ve got an opportunity to, I think, play our best basketball after the All-Star break.”
Here are a few more health-related updates from across the NBA:
- Suns guard Devin Booker exited Thursday’s game vs. San Antonio early due to right hip soreness, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes. Booker went to the locker room midway through the first quarter and attempted to return late in the second quarter before being ruled out for the second half. Injuries have been an issue as of late for Booker, who missed eight of 10 games prior to the All-Star break due to a right ankle sprain.
- Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg won’t play on Friday due to his left mid-foot sprain, but head coach Jason Kidd shared a positive update on the rookie star on Thursday, as Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com relays. “He got some shots up,” Kidd said. “He’s out of the boot right now, so we’ll see how that goes.” Asked if Flagg might be able to return during the team’s three-game road trip that will conclude on Tuesday in Brooklyn, Kidd replied, “We’re going to take it day by day.”
- It has been roughly six-and-a-half weeks since the Cavaliers announced that Max Strus was due for a follow-up evaluation on his surgically repaired left foot within the next four weeks and that next steps would be determined after that exam. While there have been no official updates since then and no indications that Strus is nearing his season debut, head coach Kenny Atkinson confirmed on Thursday that he still anticipates the veteran wing playing at some point this season, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
- Nets center Nic Claxton was inactive on Thursday after spraining his right ankle during Tuesday’s practice, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Day’Ron Sharpe earned the start in Claxton’s place in the blowout loss to Cleveland.