After a strong sophomore season, it was a no-brainer for the Los Angeles Lakers to re-sign Austin Reaves and keep him around for the foreseeable future. Despite some early-season shooting struggles, Reaves is rounding back into form.
Being moved to the bench has been a beneficial move for the third-year guard and it paid off on Tuesday’s In-Season Tournament quarterfinal game against the Phoenix Suns. Reaves scored 14 points in the third quarter and hit the biggest shot of the night, which was a 3-pointer to give L.A. a four-point lead with 15 seconds left.
That shot proves the trust that both LeBron James and Anthony Davis have in Reaves to take and make big-time shots. Davis reiterated the belief that he has in him and fortunately it panned out for the Lakers to secure a trip to Las Vegas for a quarterfinal matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans.
“It’s Austin. He’s done it. He’s made countless big shots for us and big plays for us,” Davis said. “And we trust the ball in his hands. Actually, a play we were actually talking about in the locker room when I had the ball, and I caught it to swing it to Bron for our pick-and-roll, he pointed right to Austin. And that’s when Austin hit the 3. We just have a lot of confidence in him and what he’s able to bring to our team, and his ability to score and will or to draw fouls and whether late-game or a big game that we feel like we can go to him anytime and he’ll make the right play.”
Playing in L.A. has not seemed to be too much for Reaves as he flourishes playing alongside Davis and James. To have the trust of those two destined Hall of Famers will go a long way in the continued emergence of the 25-year-old.
The Lakers struggled tremendously on the offensive end despite having 27 more shots than the Suns, they were still outshot 49.3% to 37.3%. But Reaves’ timely shot-making saved L.A. from imploding against a dangerous Phoenix offense.
With the starting lineup being more defense-oriented, the Arkansas native gets to impact the game with his offense and the team is going to need that consistently. Through 22 games, Reaves is averaging 14 points on 46.3% from the field and 31.9% from 3, which after a game like Tuesday will give him more confidence and see an uptick in his 3-point percentage.
Reaves trusts work he’s put in to become big-shot maker
Tuesday was not the first time Lakers fans saw Reaves make big shots for the team, calling back to the ‘I’m Him!’ moment last year in Game 1 of the first-round against the Memphis Grizzlies. He said that he trusts the work he’s put in to become a big-shot maker, which may be needed as the Lakers progress through the season.
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