From the moment the ball went up, things went downhill for the Los Angeles Lakers in their contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers trailed by 23 points after one quarter and 31 at halftime on their way to an embarrassing 43-point loss.
Austin Reaves did lead the Lakers with 15 points on the night, but knows he was nowhere near as good as he needs to be in order for them to compete with a team like the Thunder. Particularly in the first quarter, Reaves feels he has to do a better job of getting the Lakers out to a good start.
“I did a poor job starting the game,” Reaves said on Spectrum SportsNet. “I had a couple turnovers back-to-back and think I might’ve had four in the first quarter. I just gotta do better to give us a better opportunity at the start.”
While Reaves did lead the Lakers with eight points in the first quarter, knocking down both of his 3-point attempts, it was undone by his four turnovers which helped the Thunder quickly build a lead. The Lakers as a whole had eight turnovers in the first quarter and they were never able to recover after that.
This contest was looked at as a measuring stick game for the Lakers who looked like a contender during the month of March when they went 15-2 and picked up strong victories over multiple playoff teams. But Thursday night was a rude awakening and Reaves didn’t mince words in talking about the loss.
“They beat the [expletive] out of us,” Reaves added. “They’re the defending champs. We’ve got to be better, I don’t know. Losing always sucks. Doesn’t matter if you lose by one or 50, a loss is a loss. That’s kinda how I look at it.”
This is definitely one of those losses in which the team just has to move past it and get ready for their next game. The Lakers are still battling for playoff positioning and they have another game against the Thunder coming up next week so they will have an opportunity to redeem themselves and put up a much better showing.
Austin Reaves doesn’t believe back injury is serious
Reaves also dealt with a back injury in the first half of the contest, but he was able to play through it in the second half and doesn’t believe it will be anything serious going forward.
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