Lakers' Austin Reaves Officially Active for Game 5 vs Rockets

The Los Angeles Lakers get a massive boost in the backcourt for Game 5 against the Houston Rockets with the return of Austin Reaves.

Austin Reaves | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Throughout the first four games of the first round against the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers have been without arguably their two best players, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic, both of whom have been battling injuries since going down on April 2.

After a long nine-game absence in which he's been stuck on the bench in street clothes, Reaves has officially been cleared to return to the floor to take on the Rockets in Game 5 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

Austin Reaves Cleared to Play Game 5 vs. Rockets

Austin Reaves (left oblique muscle strain) has been upgraded to AVAILABLE for tonight’s Game 5 vs. Houston.

— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) April 30, 2026

Initially, Reaves’ timetable to return from his Grade 2 oblique strain was four to six weeks, which was the same for Doncic, who is dealing with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. 

Fortunately for the Lakers, Reaves made significant progress over the last four weeks with no setbacks, allowing him to return for Wednesday’s game in Los Angeles. The same, however, can’t be said for Doncic, who continues to try to work his way back from the hamstring issue.

Even though Doncic will need more time to get his body right to return to the floor, the Lakers get a massive boost in the backcourt with Reaves back in the fold. He'll be able to help shoulder the load at the guard position along with Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard, who have played well in the absence of Doncic and Reaves.

Austin Reaves getting up shots after practice Tuesday. JJ Redick says Reaves will be a gametime decision for Game 5 on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/kNbRkSwnxv

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 28, 2026

Reaves' return will give the Lakers a better chance to close the door on the Rockets’ hopes to pull off what would be a historic comeback in this series. No team in NBA history, 159-0, has come back from a 3-0 deficit to start a playoff series.

Although the odds tilt greatly in the Lakers’ favor to advance, anything can happen in the playoffs, which should be enough motivation for the storied franchise to end Houston’s season sooner rather than later.

The Lakers will need to clean things up in Game 5 after an ugly blowout loss in Game 4, when they committed 23 turnovers and looked like a completely different team from the first three games of the series.

However, even though Rockets star Jabari Smith Jr. thinks his team is superior, the Lakers are more than capable of closing things out on Wednesday in front of the Lakers faithful, especially with Reaves now ready to get back to work.

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