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Austin Reaves (left) and Luka Doncic (right) of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers will start their second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder without Luka Doncic (hamstring).

On a positive front, they got Austin Reaves (oblique) back for the final two games of the first round against the Houston Rockets, a development which completely “changes the equation,” according to Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault.

Looking ahead to the Lakers vs. Thunder series, Daigneault explained why Reaves is more than capable of carrying the Lakers’ offensive load alongside LeBron James.

“They’re adding an extremely high usage player that’s great at drawing fouls, really savvy shooter at all three levels,” Daigneault said of AR, via ClutchPoints’ Josue Pavon.

Austin Reaves: A Master of Drawing Fouls

“He’s just a very crafty, skilled player and someone that they can play through. Somebody that they can get the ball to and then can generate offense for them,” added Daigneault in his praise of Doncic.,

“Anytime any team adds a player like that, it’s potent. It certainly changes the equation when he’s in there. His usage was through the roof last game.”

Further to Daigneault’s point, Reaves attempted 7.3 free throws per game in the regular season, which ranked 13th in the league. For context, he got to the foul line more than stars like Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards.

While the referees are typically less gracious with their whistles in the playoffs — when physicality is more acceptable — Reaves didn’t see a drop off in his free throw attempts during the two games against the Rockets. The 27-year-old attempted a staggering 30 free throws in just 64 minutes of action, despite coming off the bench in Game 5.

Lakers Wait for Luka Doncic

If Reaves can continue to average 15 free throws per game against the Thunder, don’t be shocked if the games come down to the wire — despite the massive talent discrepancy between the reigning NBA champions and the Doncic-less Lakers.

Daigneault, though, wishes to see the Lakers at full strength.

“It’d be best for everybody if everybody was available all the time,” the Thunder coach said when while addressing the Luka Doncic injury.

“That’d be the best product for the fans, best for me, best for the teams, best for the players. It’s obviously not realistic. We go into every series preparing for every possibility. And we’ll go into this series prepared.

“Obviously, he would change a lot for them if he plays, but we’ll be prepared for every situation, including him playing or not playing.”

Doncic is expected to miss at least the first few games of the series, as he continues rehabbing from his injured hamstring. A new report from Slovenian outlet Ekipa has speculated that Doncic could return for Game 4 on May 11.

Lakers vs. Thunder Game 1 tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.