EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves is optimistic to return to action for Game 5 against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night after missing about four weeks with a Grade 2 oblique strain, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday.
Reaves will be a game-time decision for the third consecutive contest according to Lakers coach JJ Redick, but there's significant hope around his status, barring a setback. He has progressed in his rehab over the past 1-2 weeks, from one-on-one workouts to larger group scrimmages, sources told Charania.
"I want to get back out there as fast as I can," Reaves said Tuesday, speaking to reporters for the first time during his rehab. "But like I said, I feel good and trending in the right direction and can't wait to wake up tomorrow and attack another day."
If Reaves is cleared to play, any possible minutes restriction will be determined closer to game time.
"That will be based on whether he's good to go," Redick said. "We'll talk through that."
He hasn't played since suffering the injury on April 2, missing the final five games of the regular season and the first four playoff games against the Rockets.
Despite hurting his oblique in the first half of L.A.'s 139-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Reaves finished the game and actually led the Lakers in scoring with 15 points.
"I kind of had a feeling [it was a serious injury]," Reaves said. "I got a high pain tolerance. And when something bothers me, it's usually something wrong. So super frustrated, obviously."
Reaves credited the Lakers for keeping the season alive long enough so there are still games left for him to return to.
"Basically the message from that day forward was, we're going to do everything as a team, that they were going to do everything as a team to give us an opportunity to come back and play," Reaves said. "And they've done exactly what they said."
Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists this season while shooting 49% from the field and 36% from 3-point range during the regular season.
The Lakers, who lead the Rockets 3-1, will host Game 5 on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN) with a chance to advance to the second round with a win. While L.A. is the No. 4 seed against the No. 5-seeded Houston, the Rockets were the betting favorite coming into the series because of Reaves and Luka Doncic's absences. That was of course before Houston's Kevin Durant missed Game 1 with a right knee contusion and then suffered a left ankle sprain and bone bruise in Game 2 that caused him to miss Games 3 and 4 and are expected to sideline him for Game 5 as well.
Los Angeles continues to be without Doncic as he recovers from a hamstring injury that he also suffered on April 2.
"It's been a lot of fun, just seeing the determination, the togetherness, and just the joy of them playing basketball together," Reaves said. "Competing every single possession, it's been a lot of fun. You know, me and Luka talk about it every time we're watching, just how hard we're playing, the attention to detail and, like I said, the togetherness."