LOS ANGELES (AP) — Austin Reaves returned from a nine-game injury absence Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Lakers attempted to finish their first-round playoff series with the Houston Rockets in Game 5.
Reaves had been out since April 2 with strained oblique muscles, missing the final five games of the Lakers' regular season and the first four games of the postseason. But Reaves returned to practice last week, and he warmed up for the previous two games in the series in Houston before being ruled out.
Reaves came off the bench for the Lakers in Game 5, who kept the same starting lineup that had taken them to a 3-1 series lead. Reaves immediately made an impact when he checked in midway through the first quarter, making a 3-pointer from 30 feet away on his first shot.
Reaves finished the first half with 11 points and six assists, sharing the Lakers' scoring lead with Marcus Smart. But Los Angeles trailed Houston 51-47 after committing nine turnovers.
Reaves was injured in the same game in which NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic strained his right hamstrings. Doncic doesn't yet appear to be close to a return.
The Lakers won the first three games of the series without their top two scorers, but the Rockets took Game 4 to push the series back to Los Angeles.
Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds this season, but played in just 51 games thanks to the oblique injury and a strained left calf that sidelined him for 19 straight games from Christmas to February.
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