Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves suffered season-ending injuries. And just when the Lakers thought things couldn’t get worse, a case of medical malpractice has emerged as the reason behind Reaves’ latest season-ending blow.

“The second [MRI] was today,” Head coach JJ Redick said on Reaves’ MRI at Saturday’s practice. “Again, I don’t know where the chain of command lies with Dallas imaging, but uh they scanned the wrong area. Not on our end. We made it explicit what was supposed to be scanned but they scanned the wrong area.”

The team’s medical staff diagnosed Reaves with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury and ruled he will definitely be out of the five remaining regular-season games. Even ESPN’s Shams Charania noted that the 27-year-old guard is expected to be out for four to six weeks. As for Doncic, a Grade 2 hamstring injury has sidelined him for four to eight weeks, ending his regular season and targeting a potential return no sooner than mid-May.

Reaves’s 15 points in 27 minutes against OKC underscored his value, but his season has been a frustrating battle with injuries. This latest setback follows a concerning pattern, including a 19-game absence for a calf strain suffered on Christmas Day and another three-game stint on the sidelines in December for a similar issue.’

This season, Reaves genuinely took everyone by surprise. He became the number two option, averaging 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 49% per game from the field. Truly an unfortunate end to the regular season for Reaves.

Before Austin Reaves’ injury, Redick avoided blame for Luka Doncic’s exit

The Lakers find themselves in a similar spot to the Suns, who lost Kevin Durant before the playoffs. Without him, they leaned on Devin Booker and Chris Paul, but still fell in the second round.

With Doncic out for weeks, the Lakers could already be out of the playoffs. So, did the head coach take a risk by running him to the ground? The question arose when “NBA on Prime”’s broadcast captured Doncic receiving extensive medical work on his hamstring during the halftime break.

Despite this, Doncic was back on the floor in the third quarter. In fact, Redick admitted the staff had considered pulling the starters, but then changed their minds. “Yeah, I mean, it was discussed at halftime, thought we’d give those guys about six minutes, and then we were going to, if we didn’t cut into the lead, we were going to pull them. And obviously it was around that time that, I don’t remember the exact time, but that happened.”

The decision not to pull out the starters put a little more strain on Doncic. Unfortunately, the injury rules the Slovenian out, and even his MVP and end-of-season awards are in danger. This adds more trouble for the Lakers, as they are just half a game ahead of the Nuggets and a 1.5-game lead over the No. 5-seed Rockets. They can easily slide down within the next five games.