Austin Reaves looked as if he didn’t miss a beat during the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. Reaves missed 19 games — just under six weeks — due to a calf strain, and returned to the lineup on Tuesday night. One game later, while still on a minutes restriction, he had a remarkable showing.
The guard helped lead the Lakers to a comeback win over the 76ers without Luka Doncic in the lineup. He scored 35 points on 12-of-17 from the field in 25 minutes of action. It was the type of performance that usually comes when a player is completely in a zone, not when they are less than three days removed from a six-week calf injury.
But Reaves spoke after the game about how he was able to accomplish that type of showing, riding a wave of energy after initial fatigue set in.
“It’s always the first like four minutes of the game when you haven’t been playing too much,” Reaves said. “It’s just you get tired fast. And then after that, the second wind kicks in [and] adrenaline kicks in once again like tonight. You just focus on trying to win the game.”
The biggest thing Reaves credited for being able to have this type of game — and it not surprising him — was the stay-ready contests that bench players play in during practices.
“No, like I told Mike [Trudell] on the court, when you get hurt, obviously there’s a period where you don’t do much. And then for the last two, maybe three weeks, I’ve been grinding. I’ve played many what we call ‘stay ready games.’ Me, Dalton [Knecht], Bronny [James], Nick [Smith Jr.], [Drew] Timme and Maxi [Kleber].
“I felt bad for them at one point because we were playing every other day and then they had to suit up for the game, I didn’t have to do that. But just the amount of time I actually played I felt like I got a good rhythm from that. So, I mean, you don’t expect to be great right off the bat. But I felt like we did a good job of, trying to keep as much rhythm as we could.”
The stay-ready games have been oft-discussed by head coach JJ Redick, especially during the weeks that Reaves has been out. It seems that those practices helped him stay in somewhat of game shape while he worked to get back from his calf injury, and allowed him to be effective immediately upon returning.
Reaves’ return to the lineup has confirmed just how important he was to the Lakers’ operation. And he’ll continue to be that way, especially if Doncic or LeBron James need to miss time.
Austin Reaves gives update on Luka Doncic
Doncic left the game in the second quarter due to what the Lakers called leg soreness. Reaves was asked about him after the game.
“I talked to (Doncic) a little bit at halftime, asked if he was OK, and he kind of just looked at me,” Reaves said. “Hopefully it’s nothing major. We need him. He’s our best player and the engine of a lot of stuff that we do. Hopefully it’ll be good news tomorrow.”
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
