Getty
Austin Reaves (left) and Luka Doncic (right) of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to complete a first-round sweep of the Houston Rockets over the weekend, but that is where the bad news ends for L.A.
For the second straight game, the team listed star guard Austin Reaves as “questionable” leading up to tipoff. And for the second consecutive contest, Reaves ultimately did not participate.
However, NBA insider Brett Siegel suggested via social media during the fourth quarter of the Rockets’ blowout victory over the Lakers on Sunday, April 26 that all signs are pointing to Reaves’ return for what will be a pivotal Game 5 in Los Angeles.
I would tend to believe the Lakers are feeing better about Austin Reaves’ chances of being available for Game 5 in LA on Wednesday.
He has not had any setbacks over the last week, as the team has been comfortable easing him and not rushing him back with how this series has gone.
“I would tend to believe the Lakers are feeing better about Austin Reaves’ chances of being available for Game 5 in LA on Wednesday,” Siegel wrote. “He has not had any setbacks over the last week, as the team has been comfortable easing him and not rushing him back with how this series has gone.”
Reaves has missed the entire series to this point with a Grade 2 oblique strain he sustained near the end of the regular season. Los Angeles and Houston won’t meet again until April 29, with three full days off between games.
At the time of tipoff in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening, 27 days — or approximately four weeks — will have passed since Reaves suffered the injury during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
GettyKevin Durant of the Houston Rockets.
The flip side of the coin is that the extra time off will better allow Rockets star Kevin Durant to heal from his ankle sprain and bone bruise, which have sidelined him for the past two games of this series.
“Durant has a bone bruise in his sprained ankle, which would sideline him 2 to 3 weeks in-season,” Shams Charania of ESPN reported on X Sunday. “He’s had around-the-clock treatment to play, but has not been cleared by doctors.”
Durant also missed Game 1 with a knee contusion he suffered in practice in the days leading up to the playoffs. He is unquestionably Houston’s best offensive player, though Houston produced its worst offensive performance in the one contest Durant has played in this series, scoring just 94 points in a seven-point loss to the Lakers in Game 2 in L.A.
GettyLeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Rockets were considerably better in a win-or-go-home showdown in Texas Sunday.
Houston played its best offense and defense in terms of the scoreboard, winning comfortably by a tally of 115-96. Amen Thompson led a balanced Rockets attack that saw all five starters score between 16-23 points.
Meanwhile, the 41-year-old LeBron James, who looked ageless through the first three games, came back to earth with 10 points, nine assists, four rebounds and eight turnovers on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-for-3 from behind the 3-point line. Center DeAndre Ayton led the team with 19 points in 25 minutes, despite a second-half ejection.
James has carried the Lakers through four postseason games in the absence of Reaves and Luka Doncic, helped by timely contributions from role players like Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart.
Doncic is not expected to return before Round 2, assuming the Lakers make it there, as he suffered a hamstring strain during the same game that Reaves strained his oblique.
The extra rest between Games 4 and 5 should be almost as valuable to James as they will be to Reaves and Durant, as James will get 72 hours of rest before attempting to close out the Rockets and avoid a potentially series-tying Game 6 in Houston.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group's family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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