NEW YORK — Star guard Austin Reaves will make his return to the Lakers lineup Tuesday night at Barclays Center against the Nets.
The Lakers upgraded Reaves to available against the Nets one hour before tipoff after he missed 19 consecutive games because of a strained left calf that’s sidelined him since the Christmas Day loss to the Rockets.
Reaves entered the Lakers’ previous two games, Friday’s win over the Wizards and Sunday’s loss to the Knicks, as questionable before being ruled out.
The Lakers were being cautious after Reaves missed 22 of 24 games because of an injury to his left calf.
Entering Tuesday, the Lakers only had eight games where their best three players (Reaves, Luka Doncic and LeBron James) were all available. Tuesday was their 49th game of the season.
“We’ve had two games all season with our full health,” Coach JJ Redick said pregame. “So hopefully, with Austin coming back, we can just have a healthy stretch here and figure out what lineups work best.”
Reaves was performing at an All-NBA level before calf ailments slowed down his season.
He averaged 26.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds in 23 games before missing the last 5 ½ weeks.
The Lakers went 10-9 during Reaves’ absence, and 12-10 in the games Reaves has missed since he was first sidelined with a calf injury after the Dec. 10 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
“We’ve missed him in every facet,” Redick said. “Both as an on-ball player, off-ball player, a connector, leadership on the court, competitive spirit – competitive spirit defensively. He’s an All-Star level player and of course, you’re going to miss him in a number of ways.”
The return of Reaves, who came off the bench and was on a minutes restriction against the Nets, will help the Lakers in a variety of ways offensively, especially as a ball handler, pick-and-roll maestro and driver.
He’ll also change the complexion of the team looks, with his teammates being able to slot into their proper roles with his return and the 35 minutes per game he was averaging before his injuries.