The Dallas Mavericks have denied Lakers coach JJ Redick’s claim that their medical staff initially performed an MRI on the wrong part of Austin Reaves’ body, leading to a second MRI and a delayed diagnosis of his oblique injury.
Reaves, Los Angeles’ second-leading scorer at 23.3 points per game, had the MRI with the Mavericks’ staff over the weekend after sustaining a Grade 2 left oblique strain in the Lakers’ April 2 loss at Oklahoma City.
“Our medical team followed standard imaging protocols based on the information provided at the time,” the Mavericks said in a statement shared with multiple outlets. “There was no error in the scan performed.”
The Lakers announced on Saturday that Reaves will miss at least the remainder of the regular season. ESPN reported he’s expected to be sidelined four-to-six weeks.
“I don’t know where the chain of command lies with Dallas imaging, but they scanned the wrong area,” Redick said after a team practice in Dallas on Saturday. “So (the mistake was) not on our end. We made it explicit what was supposed to be scanned, but they scanned the wrong area.”
The Lakers (50-28) are also without league-leading scorer Luka Doncic (33.5 ppg) for the remainder of the regular season due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain with third-leading scorer (and 22-time All-Star) LeBron James (20.8 ppg) sidelined for Tuesday’s game vs. Oklahoma City due to management of his lingering left foot injury.
