Austin Reaves Expected Back for Lakers Game 5 Close-Out; Kevin Durant Still Out for Houston

Austin Reaves is expected to play Wednesday night in Game 5 against Houston, per ESPN, ending a 27-day absence stemming from an oblique strain suffered in late March. The Lakers hold a 3-1 series lead and can close out at home, and now they'll attempt to do it with their second-leading scorer back in the rotation for the first time all postseason.

Reaves put together a career year — 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds on 49/36/87 shooting splits — before going down alongside Luka Dončić in a late-season loss to Oklahoma City. The Lakers have ground through four playoff games without either of them, relying on Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart to manufacture offense. It's worked three out of four times, but Game 4 was a hard look at the ceiling of that group: 5-of-22 from three and 24 turnovers in a 19-point blowout loss.

On the Houston side, Kevin Durant remains sidelined with a bone bruise and sprained ankle. He played in Game 2 and has been absent in every other contest. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka confirmed Tuesday that Durant did not practice and is not trending toward availability. Without Durant, Houston has no credible counter to whatever Los Angeles puts on the floor — Reaves included. Meanwhile, Dončić continues a slower rehab trajectory and is expected to miss at least the start of the second round even if the Lakers advance, keeping the team's ceiling capped for now.

From a props standpoint, Reaves returning after a month-long layoff on a likely minutes restriction is a signal to fade his counting-stat lines, not chase them. Sportsbooks will set his points total in the 14-17 range riding the name-value bump, but a guy coming off an oblique strain with no playoff rust shed in a potential close-out game where the Lakers can win playing it straight is not a spot to expect 25-minute floor time. Target the under on his points prop and treat any assists or rebounds lines with the same skepticism. Conversely, the Lakers' team total should tick up a point or two with Reaves active — his floor-spacing and pick-and-roll creation unlocks the offense in ways Kennard simply cannot replicate. If the total sits at 220-222, the Lakers' side of that number becomes more attractive with Reaves confirmed in, and Houston's total deserves a hard look under given Durant's continued absence strips them of their primary shot-creation mechanism in crunch time.