NEW YORK — Los Angeles Lakers guard austin reeves He returned to the lineup Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets.

Reaves has been sidelined for the past five weeks with a left calf strain and was expected to be limited in minutes, but he came off the bench.

“I think we missed him in every way,” coach JJ Reddick said. “As an on-ball player, as an off-ball player, as a connector, his leadership on the court, his competitive spirit, his competitive spirit on defense. I mean, he’s an All-Star level player, and of course we’re going to miss him in a lot of ways.”

Reaves, 27, was enjoying a career season when he strained his left calf in a 132-119 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 10, then suffered another calf strain two weeks later on Christmas Day in a 119-96 loss to the Houston Rockets.

Before the injury, Reeves was averaging 26.6 points per game, shooting 50.7 percent from the floor, 6.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals.

The Lakers are 10-9 without Reeves since the game against the Rockets.