Even without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the Lakers are on the verge of completing a decisive sweep of the Houston Rockets in their first-round playoff series. Part of that success stems from LeBron James playing some of the finest basketball of his career at the age of 41. He has truly turned back the clock. But you also have to credit role players like Marcus Smart for stepping up and making winning plays when it matters most.

Things are going so well for the Lakers lately that Reaves, who injured his oblique in early April, might return for Sunday's Game 4 in Houston. Huh. Wow. Everything is truly coming up great for Los Angeles now:

Austin Reaves is once again questionable for Game 4, per the Lakers pic.twitter.com/5bHcgpaW6g

I can't lie. It's great to hear that Reaves could make his return as early as Sunday. But would that really be worth it for the purple and gold, given how Lakers-Rockets has played out so far? Kevin Durant, Houston's best perimeter scorer, could be out for the season. And it's not like the Lakers have been struggling to keep up with the Rockets in Reaves' absence, either. Again, they're on the verge of a sweep.

Unless the Lakers somehow blow this 3-0 series lead (which doesn't seem likely given the above context), why not let Reaves continue recovering from his injury so he's as close to 100 percent as possible for when the Lakers would actually need him in the next round? It doesn't make much sense for him or the Lakers to push it now.

We'll see how both parties proceed in advance of Sunday night's Game 4 in Houston.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Austin Reaves injury: Update on Lakers star trying to play on Sunday