Austin Reaves suffers Game 1 injury scare in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collision

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to need all hands on board if they’re going to take down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Austin Reaves is a significant part of that battle, and will need to stay healthy for that to happen.

Midway through the third quarter of Game 1 on Monday night, Reaves had just four points with three rebounds and four assists on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 from three.

With about 6:30 remaining in the third quarter, Austin Reaves appeared to get into a collision with Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and went down. Reaves was on the ground for another minute or so after, holding and grabbing his chest.

The replay, however, appeared to show Lakers guard Marcus Smart shoving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into Reaves, who was preparing to navigate around the Thunder star’s screen.

Marcus Smart pushed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into Austin Reaves who went down in pain

Reaves would stay in the game. pic.twitter.com/1zstkt7WSn

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 6, 2026

Reaves suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left oblique muscle in the Lakers’ April 2nd game against the Thunder. He returned in Game 5 of the first round against the Houston Rockets and played in the final two games of that series, helping the Lakers close Houston out to advance to the second round.

After three quarters of play, the Thunder lead the Lakers, 84-72. LeBron James leads all scorers with 22 points and six assists, while Chet Holmgren has a team-high 20 points for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander had 18 points and four assists, but also had seven turnovers through three quarters of play.

More to come…

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