![\"Austin](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2193285834-e1776967553422.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Austin Reaves speaks with Lakers coach JJ Redick during a game as his return status remains unclear.<\/p>\n
Austin Reaves<\/a> has been waiting patiently in street clothes as his Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> have rattled off two straight convincing playoff wins.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lakers have jumped the Rockets<\/a>, seizing early series momentum as the party moves to Houston. The new home team has one last chance to make this a series.<\/p>\n Especially if the Lakers get their second-best scorer back in the lineup, the Rockets are looking at a major hill to climb despite coming back home to play in front of their hopeful fans.<\/p>\n Lakers fans, star help may finally be on the way after a major pregame development involving Reaves.<\/p>\n Austin Reaves Status for Tonight\u2019s Game 3 to Be Decided Soon<\/p>\n As tip off approaches, the Lakers are ready to lock in a final decision on Reaves.<\/p>\n Reaves, 27, incurred a Grade 2 oblique strain just 22 days ago. While the team didn\u2019t announce an estimated return timeline \u2014 head coach JJ Redick said multiple times Reaves fellow injured star Luka Doncic<\/a> would be out \u201cindefinitely\u201d \u2014 several credible sources floated a 4-6 week window.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reaves is just at the start of the third week, so either the timeline those sources gave wasn\u2019t accurate or Reaves\u2019 injury wasn\u2019t as bad as everyone made it seem.\u00a0<\/p>\n GettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA \u2013 APRIL 12: Marcus Smart #36, Austin Reaves #15 and Luke Kennard #10 of the Los Angeles Lakers watch from the bench during the first half against the Utah Jazz<\/a> at Crypto.com Arena on April 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n The Lakers are up 2-0, so aren\u2019t exactly desperate to regain the services of Doncic or Reaves. They\u2019d still want their stars back sooner than later to get some time to ease them back into the swing of things before a difficult second round series.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to NBA insider Dave McMenamin, the Lakers will decide whether Reaves plays tonight<\/a> after they assess his condition during pregame warm ups.<\/p>\n \u201cAustin Reaves will warm up at 5:45 \u2013 an hour and 15 minutes before tipoff \u2013 according to JJ Redick. \u2018And we\u2019ll make a decision from there,\u2019 Redick said,\u201d McMenamin wrote in an X post.<\/p>\n Lakers Sensing Commanding 3-0 Lead<\/p>\n If Reaves returns tonight, the Lakers could cruise to a Game 3 win.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reaves began his return-to-play process earlier this week at Lakers practice. Videos showed him taking part in drills and working with trainers, offering the first real sign his return was nearing. Now, he could be back in action as soon as tonight.<\/p>\n The Lakers will face a desperate Houston team tonight. The Rockets understand another loss effectively slams the door on their season. It would be a brutal way to go out, no doubt, against a Los Angeles team missing its top two scorers for the first two games.\u00a0<\/p>\n No team in NBA history has overcome an 0-3 deficit. Only four teams have even forced a Game 7 after trailing by three games.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Rockets have been hit with an unfortunate Kevin Durant<\/a> development leading up to tip off. Yesterday, Durant was listed on the injury report with an ankle sprain; he has officially been ruled out of Friday\u2019s Game 3. A gut-punch for Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Durant sidelined for a second time this series and Reaves potentially returning, this first round clash continues to roll in the Lakers\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n Especially if L.A. regains Reaves in the lineup tonight, all pressure will be on the road team to handle business and deliver the final knockout punch to Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. at Toyota Center.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Austin Reaves speaks with Lakers coach JJ Redick during a game as his return status remains unclear.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-717303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lakers","12":"tag-lalakers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangeleslakers","17":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116462220427469793","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Los](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271064195-e1776869833730.jpg\")
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