Austin Reaves had an extremely difficult job in the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets. In addition to being relied on as one of the team’s creators, Reaves was also tasked with being the primary defender on Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray.
To his credit, Reaves did a more than admirable job as Murray shot just 40% from the field and 29.6% from deep in the series. It didn’t matter in the end, however, as despite Reaves’ best efforts, Murray hit a number of clutch shots, including the game-winner that ended the series in five games.
Following the disappointing end, Reaves admitted that he was frustrated at the outcome, though he believes both the Lakers and Nuggets played at a high level.
“I thought it was high-level basketball, and at the end of the day, they got the last shot to win it,” Reaves said. “Jamal [Murray] hit a tough fadeaway over me. Yeah, it’s tough. It’s tough to think about right now. Obviously, frustrated. But it was a lot of high-level basketball there towards the end and pretty much this whole series.”
Reaves is a big-time competitor and holds himself to a high standard. He has spoken about how much he hates to lose so being frustrated at that moment should come as no surprise. But he was also frustrated with his own play early in the series, and plans on using that as motivation to get better this summer.
“Personally, in this moment, I’m frustrated with myself not really playing well the first couple of games and even into that Game 3. I wasn’t good enough,” Reaves added after the Lakers loss. “I hold myself to a high standard because I believe in myself, and in those first couple games, I didn’t do what I needed to do to help us win one of those two or two of those three. And yeah, I’ll think about that all summer and train to be better and try to come back and be better next year.”
Reaves did struggle offensively in the first two games in Denver, despite doing great work defensively. But he really stepped it up in the final three contests, averaging over 20 points and made some huge shots down the stretch of Game 5.
But this is the type of mindset that makes Reaves so beloved within the Lakers organization. There is no doubt that he will do everything in his power to come back better next season and push the Lakers to greater heights.
Darvin Ham benching Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell didn’t sit well with some within Lakers
Austin Reaves was the only Lakers player to suit up for every game this season, but despite many feeling he was the team’s third best player, he spent a decent chunk of the season coming off the bench.
This decision from head coach Darvin Ham reportedly didn’t sit well with some within the Lakers organization. Some felt it was a panic move from Ham, which went against the Lakers’ goals of building continuity and chemistry overall.
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