Over the last few games the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten outstanding performances from guard Austin Reaves. While he has always been consistent, Reaves has been at an even higher level than normal over the past week despite absences from Anthony Davis and LeBron James in separate contests.
A 26-point triple-double on Christmas Day was followed by a career-high 16 assists to go along with 26 points in the following game. Then against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Reaces matched another career-high with 35 points to go along with nine rebounds and 10 assists in a competitive loss to the team with the NBA’s best record.
With D’Angelo Russell being traded away and an effort being made to reduce LeBron’s on-ball responsibilities, much of that load has fallen on to Reaves. And Davis knows the guard is capable of handling all of the duties the Lakers place on him.
“What did he have? 36 tonight? 35? He looked good to me,” Davis said after the game. “He’s a hooper. Obviously, he had a little bit more on his plate with ball-handing responsibilities when Gabe [Vincent] is out, and Bron is out of the game. But even though he’s only starting now, he knows how to run the point guard position. There’s gonna be more reps. He’s ready for it, and we got the utmost confidence in him to run the point.”
The assist numbers over the past three games have stood out and despite the higher usage Reaves is still operating on a 3:1 assist-turnover ratio. If the Lakers are going to compete in this extremely tough Western Conference they will need Reaves to play at a high level and he is showing he can do just that.
Expecting 29 points, 8.3 rebounds and 12 assists as he has averaged over the past three games would probably be a bit much. But Reaves’ ability to get in the paint and create for himself and his teammates is very valuable to this Lakers team and he is a perfect fit next to LeBron and Davis on this Lakers team.
Austin Reaves excited about new role with the Lakers
The Lakers have full belief in Austin Reaves to thrive in this expanded point guard role and Reaves himself is also excited about taking this on and continuing to improve as a player.
“Yeah, I’m excited. I mean, it’s fun,” Reaves said. “Like you said, I said, I’m gonna do, I’m gonna mess up, I’m gonna do dumb things, and I’m gonna learn from them. And that’s all I can really do. I’m kind of taking on this role on the fly, trading DLo, getting more on-ball reps.
“Like I said, I’m just some learning. It’s my fourth year in the league, and every day I can still learn something new. So I’m really excited to continue to learn to continue to grow, and become a better player.”
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