Lakers star Austin Reaves is on the sidelines to begin their 2026 NBA playoffs first-round series against the Rockets. He likely misses the entire opening round against the Rockets after sitting out the first two games due to an oblique strain. While he’s inching closer to return to play progression, there hasn’t been any update on his availability against the Rockets.
With the Lakers up 2-0, on Wednesday, several posts went viral suggesting ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on TikTok Live that Reaves could return in Game 5. One of the more prominent aggregator accounts on X, Fullcourtpass, also cited Charania and the fan account, @lebronin1, which initially reported this.
However, Charania hasn’t mentioned this officially on his social media or on ESPN, which is hosting Wednesday’s playoff games. An update of this magnitude would have generally been in the headlines, but that’s not the case, so this report is likely false and Reaves may not be targeting a return in Game 5 after all.
According to the most recent official update from Lakers coach JJ Redick, before Tuesday’s Game 2 win over Houston, Reaves has only initiated his return to play progression. The Lakers still don’t have any timeline available for his return to live action.
“Austin [Reaves] has started a return to play [progression] but we don’t have a timeline update on him,” Redick told reporters.
Austin Reaves will likely return late in the first round or in the second round
According to Shams Charania’s report from Tuesday, Austin Reaves will likely return late in the first round or in the second round. He’s started 1-on-1 drills but needs to progress to 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 to give himself a chance to return against the Rockets. However, the Lakers have outplayed the Rockets and this series might end as early as Game 5.
If that’s the case, Reaves returning in the second round against the Thunder or the Suns is more likely. That would be the best-case scenario, given the Lakers have enough time in between their first-round games for Reaves to recover.
Austin Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists on 49.0% shooting in 51 games this season. He battled several injuries, limiting his time on the floor. Before those issues, he averaged 32.0 ppg in October and 26.9 ppg in November.
