The Los Angeles Lakers spent the majority of the month of January at home with only one true road game. They ended it on a high note with a commanding victory over the Chicago Bulls and even more promising was that Austin Reaves had his best game in quite some time.
Reaves finished with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and eight assists while also knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in the Lakers’ win. It was only the second time this month that Reaves reached the 20-point mark and finding his rhythm from deep would be extremely important as he has struggled with his perimeter shot as of late.
Now with the Lakers set to embark on a six-game road trip, the entire team will need to lock in and Reaves believes this performance against the Bulls has given the team some momentum as they hit the road.
“Being home all month was nice. Obviously there was games in that 10 games where we feel like we could’ve won, should’ve won,” Reaves said. “But to play the way we played tonight, other than a little bit in the fourth quarter, gives us a lot of momentum going into this road trip.
“It’s something that we really needed after the loss the other night against the Clippers. I thought we played super hard, just didn’t really make shots, couldn’t get stops. But being home is always good. Having a winning record through that 10-game stretch, wish it was better, but this one was big tonight to get some momentum going into the road trip.”
The Lakers went 6-4 in their 10 home games and, as Reaves said, it could have been better but it was still important for the Lakers to have a winning record in that time. The question is can they carry that on the road.
It will be a challenge for sure, but the Lakers have looked much better recently and seem to finally be clicking. Road trips often bring teams together and if they can keep up this effort, the Lakers could finally string some wins together and turn this season around.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves ‘blessed’ to be considered for Team USA
Last summer, Austin Reaves made his international debut as he was selected to be a part of Team USA for the FIBA World Cup. While they finished fourth in the tournament, it was still a good showing for Reaves who carved out an important role on that squad.
Reaves was so impressive that he was one of 41 players named in the pool from which Team USA will be selected for the upcoming Olympics in Paris.
The Lakers guard said he was blessed to be considered for a roster spot while adding that his time with Team USA last summer was one of the best experiences of his life.
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