Reaves a game-time decision as he eyes return

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.

- THỤC NHI NGUYEN

THE ABSENCE of Austin Reaves (15) and Luka Doncic has exposed the Lakers' lack of capable ballhandlers.

ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times

Reaves will officially be a game-time decision before Wednesday's potentially series-clinching Game 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 Grade 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.