At halftime of the Lakers' loss to the Thunder on Thursday, both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were checked out by the Lakers' medical staff. Doncic appeared to tweak his hamstring in the first half, Reaves had been grabbing his back and left side, clearly bothered by something. Both were cleared to play and return.

Less than six minutes into the second half, Doncic suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain and is out not only for the start of the regular season but also very likely for the start of the playoffs. Now comes this:

Austin Reaves has suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain and is out for the remainder of the regular season, the Lakers announced Saturday. Like Doncic, Reaves will likely be out for the start of the playoffs — Reaves is expected to be out 4-6 weeks, reports Shams Charania of ESPN, which would have him out not only for the first round of the playoffs but potentially the second round as well.

Reaves is the Lakers' second-leading scorer and a key shot creator for the team, averaging 23.3 points and 5.5 assists per game.

Reaves is an unrestricted free agent after this season but is widely expected to re-sign with the Lakers. The only question is how much, but it's likely going to be close to a $35 million-per-season average.

Without Doncic or Reaves, 41-year-old LeBron James becomes the primary scorer and shot creator for Los Angeles, something the future Hall of Famer can handle, but not with the consistency he once did. With Doncic and Reaves thriving during the recent Lakers run — they had gone 13-1 in the games prior to facing OKC — LeBron had settled comfortably into a role as the third option. Now, all that changes.

The Lakers sit as the No. 3 seed in the West, just half a game in front of the Nuggets and two games up on fifth-seed Houston. If the Lakers struggle through the final week of the season they could slide down the standings and into a tougher matchup (maybe even starting the playoffs on the road).