Less than four weeks after suffering a Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain, Austin Reaves is closing in on a return with the Lakers in position to clinch a spot in the Western Conference semifinals.
Reaves will officially be a game-time decision before Wednesday’s potentially series-clinching Game 5 against the Houston Rockets at 7 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena. He was questionable for Games 3 and 4, warming up on the court before each game, but is “trending in the right direction,” he said Tuesday.
The Lakers have a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series despite playing without Reaves and leading scorer Luka Doncic, who is out because of a Grad 2 left hamstring strain.
“JJ [Redick] specifically was like you have to be comfortable with your body and what you can do to go out there and help us be successful,” Reaves said of his coach in his first comments to reporters since suffering the injury on April 2. “And I want to get back out there as fast as I can.”
Reaves said he typically has a very high pain tolerance. So he knew that even though he finished the game against Oklahoma City on April 2, the injury that left him grabbing at his left side repeatedly could turn out to be significant.
But getting the news that he would be out for the rest of the regular season was especially painful. Doncic had just been diagnosed with his injury the day before. The Lakers, then in third place in the Western Conference, came crashing down from a 15-2 record in March. They suddenly looked like sitting ducks in the playoff hunt.
At least only to those outside the locker room.
“Our confidence doesn’t waver as a team,” Reaves said. “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’ve done exactly what they said.”
The Lakers finished the regular season with three consecutive wins to hold onto home-court advantage as the fourth seed. They raced out to a 3-0 series lead against the Rockets, who staved off elimination with a blowout win in Game 4 despite playing without Kevin Durant. The star forward, who missed Games 3 and 4 because of a sprained left ankle, was listed out for Game 5 on Tuesday.
LeBron James reclaimed the primary playmaker role for the Lakers with Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard sharing ballhandling duties. But intense defense from the Rockets has exposed just how much the Lakers miss Reaves and Doncic. The Lakers have averaged 20 turnovers per game during the playoffs.
Reaves has been “miserable” watching it all, he said. But at least the show from his teammates has been a silver lining.
“It’s been a lot of fun, just seeing the determination, the togetherness, and just the joy of them playing basketball together,” Reaves said. “Competing every single possession, it’s been a lot of fun. Me and Luka talk about it every time we’re watching, just how hard we’re playing.”
Doncic is progressing in his return, but still has not started playing one-on-one yet, Redick said. Last weekend, he improved enough to incorporate movement into his on-court work instead of just standstill shooting.
Reaves said he has done “everything” in an attempt to maintain his rhythm and conditioning to get back on the court as soon as possible. Clearing the final hurdle will depend on how his body feels. After his availability is determined, Redick said the team will discuss any potential minutes restrictions.
“Everything from the get-go has been a group effort,” Reaves said, “and the main thing is to get me back out there as fast as I can without putting myself at risk to re-injure myself. … We’re all working for one goal.”
Doncic’s latest injury is an aggravation of the same left hamstring that kept him out for four games during the regular season. Soon after the game in Oklahoma City, Doncic went to Europe to seek specialized treatment. He missed the last five games of the regular season then rejoined the team for the beginning of the playoffs.
Now Doncic and Reaves sit next to each other on the Lakers’ bench. They dole out high-fives and shout encouragement to teammates. During timeouts, they whisper to teammates or shoot baskets. Sometimes they play rock, paper, scissors. Doncic playfully slapped Maxi Kleber on the back of the head when Kleber was shooting during a Game 4 timeout.
“When you have some of your top guys out and … they’re still around, they’re on the bench, in the timeouts, at practices just being around, it kind of lifts us up a little bit,” Kennard said. “We know that they’re here for us.”
Kennard, Smart fined
Kennard and Smart were fined by the NBA for inappropriate conduct toward game officials, the league announced Monday, after the Lakers guards were involved in a postgame dust-up near midcourt on Sunday. Smart was fined $35,000 for “questioning the integrity of game officials” and Kennard was fined $25,000 for “directing inappropriate language toward game officials.”
After the game that featured five technical fouls and thee ejections, players from both teams jawed back and forth near midcourt. Referees intervened with James and the Rockets’ Jeff Green and at the center trying to separate their respective teammates.
“I always have my teammates’ back,” Kennard said Tuesday of the incident. “Not much other to say than that. I got to be a little bit more composed and under control and can’t let the emotions get the best of me.”
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