{"id":119303,"date":"2026-04-29T05:09:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/austin-reaves-nearing-return-as-lakers-eye-series-clincher\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T05:09:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:09:48","slug":"austin-reaves-nearing-return-as-lakers-eye-series-clincher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/austin-reaves-nearing-return-as-lakers-eye-series-clincher\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Reaves Nearing Return as Lakers Eye Series Clincher"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>There is growing optimism that Austin Reaves will be available for Game five against the Houston Rockets, with the guard trending toward a return after nearly a month on the sidelines, according to Shams Charania of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com.au\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/48617343\/sources-lakers-optimistic-austin-reaves-return-game-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Reaves, who has been recovering from a Grade two oblique strain suffered on April 2nd, has steadily progressed through his rehab. After working through individual sessions, he has now returned to larger team scrimmages in recent weeks, a sign that his comeback is close.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to get back out there as fast as I can,\u201d Reaves said Tuesday. \u201cBut like I said, I feel good and trending in the right direction and can\u2019t wait to wake up tomorrow and attack another day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Head coach JJ Redick confirmed Reaves will once again be a game-time decision, though the tone around the team suggests confidence in his availability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat will be based on whether he\u2019s good to go,\u201d Redick said. \u201cWe\u2019ll talk through that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Lakers currently hold a 3-1 series lead and have the opportunity to close things out at home in Game 5. Despite being the lower seed entering the matchup, Los Angeles has taken control of the series while navigating multiple injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Reaves hasn\u2019t played since the injury occurred during a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game in which he still managed to finish and lead the team in scoring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI kind of had a feeling [it was a serious injury],\u201d Reaves said. \u201cI got a high pain tolerance. And when something bothers me, it\u2019s usually something wrong. So super frustrated, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even from the sidelines, the 25-year-old has remained engaged, praising the team\u2019s effort throughout the series.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun, just seeing the determination, the togetherness, and just the joy of them playing basketball together,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cCompeting every single possession, it\u2019s been a lot of fun. You know, me and Luka talk about it every time we\u2019re watching, just how hard we\u2019re playing, the attention to detail and, like I said, the togetherness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foreverbet.com\/en-us\/sportsbook?utm_source=basketballforever&amp;utm_medium=sitearticle&amp;utm_ca%5B%E2%80%A6%5Dn=basketballforever500ph&amp;utm_term=ReavesReturnLakers&amp;lid=j0ytdho0wlyd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-69110\" src=\"https:\/\/basketballforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ForeverBet-BF-promotional-banner-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"730\" height=\"175\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/basketballforever.com\/2026\/04\/27\/lebron-james-calls-out-mistakes-as-lakers-collapse-in-game-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LeBron James Calls Out Mistakes as Lakers Collapse in Game 4<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/basketballforever.com\/2026\/04\/28\/austin-reaves-nearing-return-as-lakers-eye-series-clincher\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is growing optimism that Austin Reaves will be available for Game five against the Houston Rockets, with the guard trending toward a return after nearly a month on the sidelines, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. Reaves, who has been recovering from a Grade two oblique strain suffered on April 2nd, has steadily progressed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}