The majority of attention in the Los Angeles Lakers latest preseason contest was rightfully on Luka Doncic making his preseason debut. Doncic finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists, but his backcourt partner Austin Reaves also added 25 points as well and looks ready to go as the regular season is right around the corner.
The Lakers were unable to come away with the win and while there were some good things to build on, there were also things that must improve. Following the contest, Reaves spoke on the message from head coach JJ Redick after the game, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“That there’s good and bad. He talked more so about the bad, but also did point out some good. We’ll learn from those things and like he said, it’s the controllables that they get frustrated with so we have to be better in that aspect.”
Of note, the Lakers allowed 26 Suns points off 20 turnovers, so that is something they will need to clean up. The Lakers also allowed 52 points in the paint to the Suns and 13 offensive rebounds. These would all be things that would be categorized as ‘controllable’ that the Lakers can improve upon.
But Reaves also feels that the most important thing for the Lakers right now is continuing to build chemistry together:
“I think it’s just still, creating that chemistry. Fairly new team, we brought in some really important pieces and we just have to log minutes together and learn how to play alongside one another. There was a couple times in the pick-and-roll today where I made, I don’t know if I’d say the wrong read, but not the right read for the right person. There was one that I tried to throw to DA like kind of a chest pass on the pick-and-roll, I should’ve thrown the lob. Just little things like that, that come with playing alongside one another more often. Just tightening those things up and building that chemistry.”
It has been hard for the Lakers to do this as they haven’t had a single preseason contest with their entire team together. They should be able to get one preseason game with the expected rotation minus LeBron James, and that will have to be enough going into the season as they will just have to build on that with the regular season quickly approaching.
Austin Reaves discusses what Deandre Ayton brings to the Lakers
Aside from the Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James trio, arguably the most important player for the Lakers is center Deandre Ayton. And Reaves recently spoke about what he has seen from the big man so far.
“Just how much skill he has,” Reaves said of what he’s noticed about Ayton. “People forget about when he was in Phoenix and how dominant he was there and how he was one of the biggest reasons that team made it to the Finals that year. Talent is high, he can play in the pick-and-roll, protect the rim. So we need that. We need him to flourish in that role.”
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