The Los Angeles Lakers enter Wednesday night’s Game 5 against the Houston Rockets as -4.5-point favorites — a surprising turn of events given the injury status of Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic.
The betting line is also surprising since the Rockets seemed to find their groove in Game 4 with their homegrown starting unit of Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard. Perhaps oddsmakers feel that the Rockets would struggle to win back-to-back games without their leading scorer, Kevin Durant, who will miss his third consecutive game with an ankle sprain.
While Reaves (oblique) remains questionable for Game 5, Doncic (hamstring) has been ruled out for the remainder of the Rockets series and is very unlikely to suit up against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the potential West semifinals.
Luka Doncic Injury Update
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania provided a concerning update on Doncic, who has been sidelined since he sustained a grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2.
“It is a slow path on the recovery front for Luka,” Charania told ESPN’s “SportsCenter” ahead of Lakers vs Rockets Game 5. “The expectation is that if the Lakers are able to beat Houston and advance, Luka Doncic will be out for the next series.
“There’s still no timetable for him as of right now. He’s starting to do more court movement as [Lakers coach] JJ Redick said the other day, but he is not at the point where he’s progressing in his own court work outs as far as one-on-ones and truly pushing it on a movement front.”
Austin Reaves Injury Update
Meanwhile, Reaves, who has also been sidelined since April 2, will be a game-time decision to suit up for the first time in the playoffs this year.
Reaves told reporters Tuesday that he’s itching to return to basketball.
“I kinda had a feeling. When something is bothering me, it’s usually that something is wrong,” Reaves said of when he sustained the oblique injury.
“Super frustrated, obviously we just had the Luka news, we were playing well. Just super frustrated but obviously our confidence didn’t waver as a team.
“Sort of the message from that day forward was, we’re going to do everything as a team, they were going to do everything as a team to give us an opportunity to get back and play.”
Reaves made it clear that he won’t exert undue pressure on himself.
“JJ (Redick) specifically was like, ‘You have to be comfortable with your body and what you can do to go out there and help us be successful,'” said the fifth-year guard.
“I want to get out here as fast as I can. But like I said, I feel good. Trending in the right direction. Can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and attack another day.”
Lakers vs Rockets Game 5 tips off at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday. If the Lakers finish off the Rockets, their second-round series against the Thunder could commence as early as this weekend or early next week.
Lakers Get Surprising News Amid Concerning Luka Doncic Update