The Los Angeles Lakers‘ recent woes continued in the first half of Thursday’s Christmas Day game versus the Houston Rockets. They fell behind by double digits in the first quarter, and that deficit grew to 21 points in the third quarter.
Austin Reaves, in his second game back from a calf strain, scored 12 points on 5-of-8 field-goal shooting in the first half, with nine of them coming in the second period. But he didn’t get onto the floor to start the third quarter, and he has reportedly been ruled out for the rest of the game due to calf soreness.
Reaves has been ruled out the rest of the game with left calf soreness, the Lakers say. https://t.co/32ViBtefNa
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 26, 2025
A calf strain is an injury that needs to be taken very seriously, as the world learned when Rockets superstar Kevin Durant sustained one during the 2019 NBA Playoffs, then returned during Game 5 of that year’s NBA Finals and promptly tore his Achilles when he was a member of the Golden State Warriors.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Austin Reaves ruled out for rest of Thursday’s game versus Rockets