Austin Reaves had arguably the best postseason game of his career in the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that got lost in the shuffle due to his and the team’s frustration with the officials.
Towards the end of the game, there was a jump ball and both teams were jockeying for the best positions. After that sequence, Reaves got into a heated exchange with one of the officials, John Goble, as captured by Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic:
I want to call this the game within the game, but these teams versus this crew has been explosive for the entire game. Lakers were furious about the way that jump ball was officiated. Thunder snagged it, went down the floor and got a Cason Wallace 3 and Redick timeout. pic.twitter.com/ZJaZWbkofX
— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) May 8, 2026
Reaves is not usually one to lose his temper like that on the court, but after the game he explained the root of his frustration.
“I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night,” Reaves said of the officials. “A million times in the past, I’ve said way worse stuff. And when we were doing the whole tip ball and they were switching spots, I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side, was just trying to keep an advantage.
“And he turned around and yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful. The whole time that was going on over there, I don’t think he said much to them. I know Ben (Taylor) stepped in and said something. But at the end of the day, we’re grown men and I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful.
“I told him if I did that to him first, I would’ve gotten a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech was because he knew he was in the wrong. I just felt disrespected.”
Reaves wasn’t the only one unhappy with the officiating as JJ Redick and LeBron James both let their feelings be known throughout the night as well. While they may have had a point, unfortunately it doesn’t matter as the Lakers now find themselves in a 2-0 hole as they head back to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4.
Austin Reaves regained form in Game 2 loss
Reaves struggled in a big way in Game 1, shooting just 3-for-16 from the field for eight points with four turnovers.
If the Lakers are gonna have any chance in this series then they will need more from Reaves. Despite the Game 2 loss, Reaves looked much better as he led all scorers with 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go along with two rebounds and six assists.
Hopefully, that will give Reaves some confidence as the series shifts to Crypto.com Arena for Game 3 on Saturday night.
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