LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers will welcome back guard Austin Reaves on Wednesday evening as they look to close out their first-round playoff matchup against the Houston Rockets in Game 5.
Reaves has been sidelined for nine consecutive games due to a strained oblique muscle, an injury he sustained on April 2. His absence included the Lakers’ final five regular season contests and all four games of their current playoff series. The guard had resumed practicing with the team last week and participated in pregame warmups during the previous two road games in Houston before being declared unavailable.
The injury occurred during the same contest where NBA scoring leader Luka Doncic suffered a right hamstring strain. Doncic remains sidelined with no clear timeline for his return.
Despite missing their leading scorer, the Lakers managed to win the opening three games of the series before Houston responded with a victory in Game 4, forcing the series to return to Los Angeles.
This season, Reaves posted impressive numbers with 23.3 points per game along with 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds. However, injuries limited him to just 51 games during the regular season. In addition to his current oblique issue, a left calf strain kept him out of action for 19 consecutive games spanning from Christmas through February.
