The second game with Luka Doncic in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform did not go as well as the first. The defense was abysmal and neither Doncic, LeBron James or Austin Reaves reached the 20-point mark as the Lakers were blown out by the Utah Jazz.
Reaves struggled the most of the Lakers’ trio, shooting just 4-of-15 from the field and 1-of-10 from 3-point range. He did make up for his shooting struggles by dishing out 11 assists, but it didn’t matter as the Lakers were unable to get stops consistently in Utah.
It was that side of the ball where Reaves felt the Lakers really dropped the ball, saying they weren’t connected at all on defense, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I just didn’t feel like we were as connected on the defensive end. Had a lot of blown coverages. On nights like tonight when the shots don’t fall, you gotta be really connected on the defensive end and we weren’t.”
Overall, the Lakers just had no energy against a Jazz team that they had just blown out two days prior. Many teams have mentally checked out in the final game before the All-Star break, but Reaves wasn’t willing to use any excuses for the Lakers’ poor performance:
“No. I just felt like we played like shit. I don’t wanna say the tank was empty. Anytime you get an opportunity to go out there and play basketball, you love that opportunity. Just didn’t play very good.”
The fact that the Lakers and Jazz faced off in back-to-back games was also mentioned as a reason for the poor performance, but again, Reaves felt the team simply failed to do their job as professionals:
“It shouldn’t matter. You gotta be professionals and go in there and do the same thing and we didn’t tonight. From the gate, we weren’t where we needed to be. We weren’t where we were the other night and you let a team like that get confident and start shooting the ball really well, they can do that and it’s hard to climb back in the game. We just gotta be more professional in our approach to those situations.”
This contest had all of the ingredients for a classic trap game and they ultimately fell right into it, much to the dismay of Reaves who, rightfully, feels he and the Lakers should have been able to overcome it against a team they had dominated all season long.
Austin Reaves excited to have Dalton Knecht back with Lakers
Wednesday night’s game against the Jazz also saw the return of Dalton Knecht in uniform for the Lakers after the rescinded trade for Mark Williams. Austin Reaves understands how difficult of a situation it had to be for Knecht, but is happy to see him back with the team.
“It’s been good. This morning was the first time I think we’ve seen him as a group,” Reaves said. “I’m sure it’s a roller coaster of convincing for him and everybody that’s been involved in that situation. But we’re super excited to have him back. Have Cam [Reddish] back, and that’s really it. At the end of the day, this business is a business, and sometimes things happen that we don’t love, but like I said, it’s a business, and we’re very excited to have him and Cam back.”
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