Austin Reaves is glad to be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers again despite the loss

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Austin Reaves is glad to be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers again despite the loss originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Austin Reaves had a superb 2025-26 season for the Los Angeles Lakers despite missing a lot of time with injuries. The postseason was not safe from those injury issues because he did not play the first four games of the first-round series against the Houston Rockets. 

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Now, he is finally back after a long layoff due to an oblique injury. He played 34 minutes in his first game back, scoring 22 points. However, he mostly thrived from the free-throw line, shooting 12-for-13, but struggled from the field with his 4-for-16 splits.

Austin Reaves wants to bounce back after his underwhelming Lakers return

The Lakers did a wonderful job filling in for both Reaves and Luka Doncic in this series. However, the past two games have been tough to stomach because they could have been in the second round by now with a date set up against the San Antonio Spurs.

That is not the case because the Rockets are hanging around with two consecutive wins. They are also doing it without Kevin Durant, so injuries to the Lakers' stars are valid excuses anymore. Reaves, in particular, knows this because he was struggling mightily in Game 5.

MORE: The Houston Rockets force Game 6 with an impressive and gutsy win in Los Angeles

It is good for the Lakers that Reaves acknowledged that he had a hard time in Game 5. That was his first game in a month, which should clearly explain the rust he had with his inefficiencies from the field. Reaves himself is glad to be back, but he is focused on getting better as soon as possible.

"It's been a grind. I've been running around Los Angeles doing everything I could possibly do to get back to this moment. We've done it. Wish I played a little better, wish I made a couple more shots," Reaves said after the Game 5 loss to Houston.

Reaves is a positive presence for the Lakers because he is not only a scorer, but he is also a high-level playmaker. As long as he can remain active with the Lakers, they will be a more dangerous team. He knows that, so he wants to bounce back and redeem himself in Game 6.

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