HOUSTON — Lakers guard Austin Reaves went through pregame warmups for the first time in three weeks before being downgraded to out 45 minutes before Game 3 tipped off on Friday, but the Houston Rockets were dealt a significant injury blow for the second time in the first-round playoff series.
Kevin Durant, the Rockets’ leading scorer and initiator, sat out Game 3 with a left ankle sprain he suffered in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night. Durant sat out Game 1 with a knee contusion following a collision with a teammate in a practice last week, but he returned for Game 2 and led Houston with 23 points.
With Durant unavailable, Rockets coach Ime Udoka said he would lean on a smaller rotation for Game 3, a group that includes former Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith – who has dealt with a lingering ankle injury throughout the season – and would play forwards Jae’Sean Tate and Jabari Smith Jr. at center at times.
“With Kevin being out, possibly, or playing more small that opens up the window for Dorian, and so he’s ready to go,” Udoka said before Friday’s game. “Obviously, the health has been an issue at times this year, but he hasn’t played a lot lately and is ready to contribute.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick said the Rockets playing smaller, or even switching up their rotations – which Udoka alluded to after the Lakers took a 2-0 series lead – is something that they are prepared for.
“We’re prepared for any scenario,” Redick said.
Redick has remained relatively mum about Reaves’ recovery efforts, other than insisting for the second consecutive day that he is “progressing” from his Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury. Redick said before Game 3 that Reaves’ 5:45 p.m. local time warmup would determine whether he would suit up.
Reaves’ soft-tissue injury usually carries a four-to-six-week recovery process. As of Friday, it has been three weeks and one day since Reaves aggravated his oblique against Oklahoma City on April 2. Working with assistant coach Beau Levesque, Reaves participated in shooting drills for 15 minutes, before stopping to autograph a fan’s jersey on his way back to the locker room.
Thirty minutes later, the Lakers ruled Reaves out.
When asked about the potential of facing either Reaves or Luka Doncic (who remains “out indefinitely” with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain) during the series, Udoka said the Rockets have been more focused on the ongoing threat of how to handle LeBron James, rather than the “what if” of Reaves taking the court.
“We understood that he was going to be out for a while, if not the whole series, and so we prepared it as if they’re going to be out and those last five games they played without him and Doncic, that was our focus,” Udoka said of the team’s preparation ahead of the series.
“But you look at the sets and what we did against them previous this year, and you can look back on those and how they play very similar to Kennard and some of the actions that they run for him now. So won’t be a surprise if [Reaves] comes back, but the prep was really on focusing on LeBron and how much he’s initiating and having the ball.”