The Los Angeles Lakers played their first full game since losing LeBron James to a groin strain for what is expected to be at least 1-2 weeks. It was a losing effort to the Brooklyn Nets, making L.A. 0-2 on their current East Coast road trip. The Lakers got a strong showing from some of their role players like Gabe Vincent and Jordan Goodwin, but it was the duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves that struggled against the lowly Nets.
Reaves, in particular, couldn’t get anything going. The combination of 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds looks strong on the surface. But Reaves shot just 3-for-14 from the field and 1-of-5 from three, with 10 of his 17 points coming from the free throw line. He was a game-low minus-10 in his 36 minutes of action.
The Lakers need everyone to step up with LeBron out of commission temporarily. But Reaves is among the most important pieces for L.A. in the meantime given what he can do both as a scorer and a facilitator. He’s aware of this, and was blunt in his assessment of his play against Brooklyn, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I just thought I played incredibly bad. That’s really about as much as I can say about that. It’s frustrating not helping your team win and when Bron’s out, I gotta be better and I wasn’t. That’s one of the reasons we lost.”
Reaves shut down any talk of excuses with injuries being the reason for the loss. Even with LeBron, Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes out, Reaves felt they had more than enough:
“No, I don’t think so. I think you just go out and play the way that you play every night. We got enough guys in here that played tonight to have won this game and unfortunately, we didn’t play good enough. I personally didn’t play good enough, so I don’t know, we could start there with just me being better.”
The Lakers guard was certainly frustrated, but isn’t going to change the process and will continue to put in the work after the rough showing:
“Go to the gym and workout. Like I said, I think it was after the Knicks game… I shoot too many basketballs to get frustrated with missing some. Things happen, I played like shit tonight. What can I say?”
Reaves has been among the most consistent Lakers players all season long and has firmly established himself as one of the best third options in the sport. However, he’s had some difficult outings over the last week since returning from a calf injury, and will need to be better in James’ absence.
He knows this, and Reaves has always stepped up when a challenge presents itself.
Luka Doncic also takes accountability for performance in Lakers loss to Nets
Austin Reaves wasn’t the only star on the Lakers to not have his best game against Brooklyn. Luka Doncic struggled as well, posting 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, but doing so on 8-for-26 shooting and 3-for-10 from deep. After the loss, he too said he needs to better, especially with LeBron James out of the lineup.
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