Luka Doncic was arguably one of the only bright spots in the Los Angeles Lakers’ Thursday night loss to the Phoenix Suns. L.A. lost on a last-second triple by Royce O’Neale, dropping their third straight game to a team missing their two best players in Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks. Austin Reaves and LeBron James struggled, combining for 29 points on 12-for-28 shooting.
The Lakers are now 2-5 in their last seven games, and have fallen to the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference by a two-game margin. They are only one game ahead of the Suns for the final secured playoff spot. A couple more losses and the Doncic-led Lakers could find themselves in the Play-In Tournament.
Reaves spoke after the game about his reactions to the loss, and he leaned on a pretty typical thought pattern in close games, via Benjamin Royer of The Southern California News Group:
“There’s a handful of plays tonight I feel like if we are better, you know, it can swing a game,” said Reaves, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. “Every possession matters. It sounds like a cliché because there are so many of them, but you know, it can swing the game in either direction throughout the game. One little play, one little mistake can ignite a crowd, ignite a team, whatever it may be.”
His more candid answer, though, was discussing his frustration level after another close loss.
“Very high,” he said, his arms crossed as he leaned into the back of a nearly-empty visitors locker.
The Lakers guard is still looking for consistent rhythm since returning to the lineup. He’s scored in double figures in all nine of his games back, but has shot under 45% from the field in five of those games and has only reached 20 points twice. He was averaging 27.8 points a game prior to his injury and is averaging 19.6 since.
But more importantly, the Lakers aren’t winning games, and that is more where his frustration stems from. The only connection between the two is that the Lakers win games when Reaves is at his best.
Luka Doncic explains what Lakers mindset must be
Luka Doncic was also frustrated in the wake of the team’s third straight loss, and he was also candid in how the Lakers need to approach things moving forward. He said the Lakers need to get back to the mindset of trying to win every game, and treating each game as important.
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