Austin Reaves Nears Return To Lakers Lineup As Luka Doncic Sidelined Indefinitely
The Los Angeles Lakers took Game 1, but they are far from comfortable heading into Tuesday night. Back home at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers prepare for Game 2 against the Houston Rockets in their 2026 first-round playoff series.
As the West's No. 4 seed, Los Angeles handled the fifth-seeded Rockets 107-98 on Sunday, and they carry a 24-16 all-time postseason record in this matchup into the next one. The win was good. The injury picture surrounding it, not so much.
Both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves sat out Game 1, and neither has a clear return date. That pushed LeBron James into a heavier load at 41 years old. He held up well, posting 19 points on efficient shooting, 13 assists and eight rebounds across 38 minutes. The Lakers got the result, but leaning that heavily on LeBron every night is a balance that has its limits.
ESPN's Shams Charania offered an update on Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves during a recent appearance on NBA Today, and the news was a mixed bag.
"The sense around the Lakers is that Austin Reaves is actually the one that's further along than Luka Doncic in their respective rehab processes," Charania said. "I am told Austin Reaves has started 1-on-1 on-court work. The next step for him is to continue to go through the progressions of 3-on-3 and 5-on-5."
Reaves is dealing with an oblique injury, and the early April timeline pointed to a four-to-six-week recovery window. If he stays on track, a return late in this series or at the start of the next round is a realistic possibility. Doncic's hamstring situation is a different story entirely.
"The Lakers are not expecting Luka Doncic to be back in this series," Charania added. "He is out indefinitely."
That's a significant blow for a team built around the NBA's leading scorer this season. For now, the rest of the roster has to carry the weight.
In Game 1, they did a decent job of it. LeBron controlled things as the primary option, Luke Kennard and the rest of the starters contributed steadily, and the defense held Houston to just 37.6 percent shooting while the Lakers converted 60.6 percent of their own attempts.
A nine-point win looks clean on paper, but the game stayed closer than those numbers suggest. Turnovers and poor rebounding kept giving the Rockets extra possessions, and Houston made them pay enough to stay in it.
Those are fixable issues, but with Doncic out indefinitely and Reaves still working his way back, the Lakers cannot afford to keep handing opponents lifelines.
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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 1:58 PM.