The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a disappointing loss to the Miami Heat as although they were severely shorthanded, they battled back late and had a chance to win it down the stretch.
The Lakers only had eight healthy rotation players to start and that number went down to six when Anthony Davis suffered from hip spasms and missed most of the second half and then D’Angelo Russell got ejected early in the fourth quarter.
Even with only a few healthy bodies and trailing by double digits though, the Lakers kept fighting behind stellar play from LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
James led the Lakers with 30 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and three blocks while Reaves had arguably his best game of the young season, nearly having a triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
The Lakers were able to cut their deficit to just one point at 108-107 with two-and-a-half minutes to play, getting some big stops down the stretch. They were never able to get over the hump, however, as James had a pair of turnovers and Reaves missed a pair of triples. L.A. got one final look at the buzzer and James found an open Cam Reddish in the corner although he was not able to convert, resulting in the one-point loss.
After the game, Reaves discussed the looks he and his teammates got late, disappointed with himself for not being able to convert, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“Both groups really just competing. We got some good looks down the stretch and just didn’t make them. I had two good looks, missed them. Want those back obviously. Last shot of the game, Cam got a good look, just didn’t make it. But that’s how basketball goes. We competed to get back into that game without AD basically in the second half and with DLo getting two techs kind of early in the fourth. We made a great effort to make it a game and have an opportunity at the end to win.”
Reaves also discussed the Lakers’ comeback attempt falling just short and how that is a microcosm of the sport as a whole:
“The beauty of basketball is the frustration of what it is tonight. Some nights, those go in and we might get like a 10-0 run and win by eight, big win, good win, good comeback win. And nights like tonight, they don’t fall and, obviously, you’re pissed off. I’m pissed off at myself for the two that I missed. Bron had a good look on the left wing, I had the two [looks] and then Cam had the last one. Those are shots that I guarantee coaching staff, players, everybody on the team and in the organization would be like ‘Shoot them again.’ Like I said, that’s the beauty of the game. It’s also very frustrating because you want to win every game, but it happens.”
The good news for Reaves and the Lakers is that there are still 75 regular season games to be played and he has shown signs of getting out of his early-season slump.
The hope is that will continue and that despite starting 3-4, the Lakers can get some key guys healthy and start turning things around here in the coming weeks.
James still has confidence in Reddish
Even though Reddish was not able to make the open corner 3-pointer at the buzzer, James still has confidence in him and expressed after the game that he needs to be ready for the next time that opportunity arises.
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