Los Angeles Lakers fans everywhere followed closely as optimism skyrocketed about the potential return of Austin Reaves for Game 3. Unfortunately, it appears the Grade 2 left oblique strain will keep him out of the lineup just a little bit longer.
Several reporters have confirmed the Lakers will not have Reaves for Game 3 against the Houston Rockets. This comes after JJ Redick said Reaves would go through a warmup ahead of the matchup, allowing the team to make the decision on whether he plays from there.
Austin Reaves warming up ahead of Game 3 pic.twitter.com/A5VMqVhrFy
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 24, 2026
The ultimate conclusion of the saga for this specific matchup would be that Los Angeles needs to fight another day without their star guard. However, it is more than fair to estimate that a Game 4 return feels like a safe guarantee considering the encouraging warmup footage of Reaves ahead of Friday night's tilt.
Game 4 should finally give the Lakers one of their two backcourt stars
It just seems like everything was oh so close with Reaves for Game 3 in Houston. The Lakers guard surprisingly appeared as questionable on the injury report in the lead-up and speculation grew rampant from there about his readiness.
Shams Charania was originally the voice who stepped in to change expectations for Lakers fans. Many of the reports before that indicated Luka Doncic would be the first of the two guards back. Charania suggested it would be the other way around. That much looks to be true.
Considering the reliability of what the NBA insider had to say there, it is only fair to give him the benefit of the doubt in his overall reporting on the situation. That is why what he said on NBA Today should warrant a ton of attention.
"My understanding is Austin Reaves is trying to play in Game 3 tonight. If not Game 3, then Game 4," Charania said. "He started on-court work in the last several days. He's progressed through it. There's been no setbacks."
Did you catch it? The point of interest should be that if Reaves did not make his return in Game 3, it would be expected for Game 4.
The Lakers, for their part, will probably run back the same procedurals. Reaves can be listed as questionable ahead of Game 4, just to keep the Rockets on their toes as to whether the talented offensive guard actually plays.
Even with that approach, it should be more than fair to get those hopes up about Reaves being an inevitable return in the near future for the Lakers. If Los Angeles get the job done and secure a win in Game 3 against a Kevin Durant-less Rockets team, AR15 can come in for clean-up duty in Game 4.
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