LeBron James, Luka Doncic spoke about the injury of Austin Reeves

The The Los Angeles Lakers lost in a primetime game in New York last night at the Knicks, and it’s hard not to wonder, given the team’s lackluster second half, how differently the game could have gone if LA had Austin Reaves which they have at their disposal.

Reaves last played on Christmas Day, when he re-aggravated his left calf injury against the Houston Rockets. Since then, there has been much speculation as to when Reaves would return to the Lakers lineup, but more than a month after enduring the pressure, there is still no concrete sign of Reaves’ return. And his teammates, who went 10-9 in his absence, felt the loss their guard with 27 points.

“We’ve had some really good moments. We’ve had some not-so-good moments. We want to keep trying to build from that,” LeBron James said via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “It’s been tough all season dealing with injuries. Guys in and guys out. Unfortunately, our All-Star 2 guard was out for a minute, and that’s a big part of our team. So it’s hard to see what we can really, really be.”

Luka Dončićwho quickly developed a strong partnership with Reaves after he which was bought by the Lakers a year agoreiterated his desire to have Reaves back, though only if it can be done without further injury.

“It’s definitely difficult with the calf,” Doncic said. “I went through it. It’s not an easy injury. So we just want him to be healthy. If he’s not ready to come back, don’t come back. But obviously, we’d love to have him there. We can’t wait for his return.”

The Lakers are 15-8 this season with Reaves and 14-11 without him. He missed three straight games in early November with a groin injury. A little more than a month later, after playing 14 straight games, he missed three straight with what was called a mild left calf strain. Upon his return, he played a total of 37 minutes in two games before the Lakers lost on Christmas Day to the Rockets. Since then, he has missed 19 straight games and may miss more; Lakers head coach JJ Redick said to Reaves is “day-to-day, game-to-game,” but wasn’t sure he’d be ready to return for Tuesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.

Reaves had the best season of his five-year career before being sidelined with injury, averaging a career-high 26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 23 games. In the third year of his four-year, $53.8 million contract extension, Reaves, 27, can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason if he decides to decline his $14.9 million player option.