Austin Reaves hopes to return to the Lakers for the decisive Game 5 against the Rockets after almost 4 weeks of absence

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers will wait until game time Wednesday night to determine whether he is ready to return after nearly four weeks on the bench with a strained oblique muscle.

Reaves expressed cautious optimism Tuesday when he spoke to reporters for the first time since getting hurt April 2 in Oklahoma City. The Lakers’ second-leading scorer was listed as questionable in the final two games of their first-round playoff series against Houston, but ultimately did not play as Los Angeles split the games to take a 3-1 series lead.

Announcement

“I want to get back out there as fast as I can,” Reaves said at the Lakers’ training complex. “I feel good. The trend is in the right direction. I can’t wait to get up (Wednesday) and attack another day.”

Lakers coach JJ Redick gave no hints about the team’s mindset toward Reaves, saying his availability will be “based on whether he’s good at starting. We’ll talk about that.”

Reaves tried to stay level-headed during the second injury absence of his otherwise stellar season. He averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds, but played just 51 games, largely thanks to the oblique injury and a left calf strain that sidelined him for 19 consecutive games from Christmas to February.

Although Reaves finished the game in which he was injured in Oklahoma City, he knew the injury was significant because he logged it above his high pain tolerance. NBA champion Luka Doncic also left the game with a hamstring strain, and neither of the two highest-scoring guards has played for the Lakers since.

Announcement

But their teammates have done much better than many expected without them, and Reaves is impressed.

“Basically the message from that day forward was that they were going to do everything as a team to give us an opportunity to come back and play, and they did exactly what they said,” Reaves said.

LeBron James and his supporting cast won the first three games of the first-round series and pushed the favored Rockets to the brink of elimination, even stealing Game 3 in overtime after trailing by six points with 30 seconds left in regulation.

“It was a lot of fun to see the determination and the togetherness and the joy of playing basketball together (and) competing on every single possession,” Reaves said. “It was a lot of fun. Luka and I talk about it every time we watch: how much we’re playing, the attention to detail and being together.”

Announcement

Doncic isn’t close to returning yet, but both teams could be without their top scorers again in Game 5. Rockets star Kevin Durant missed three of the four games in the series with injuries and did not participate in practice in Houston on Tuesday before the team flew to Los Angeles.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA