Austin Reaves missed three games due to a calf strain but made his return in the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Although the Lakers were blown out, Reaves looked good physically as he had his normal speed and burst on the floor. He played 22 minutes off the bench and recorded 17 points, two rebounds and two assists, solid production in his first game back in action.
There’s always concern for a player with a lower-leg injury, but it appears Los Angeles was just being cautious with Reaves.
After the loss, he noted he was winded in the first few minutes before he settled in, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I was pretty tired the first couple of minutes but after that it felt good.”
It took time for Reaves to get acclimated, but he acknowledged by the second quarter he thought he started to feel more like himself:
“Yeah, I thought I caught a decent rhythm in the second quarter too, getting to the rim. But it’s gonna take time.”
As for when he found out he’d be coming off the bench, the guard said it came up during his pre-game shooting routine:
“It got brought up during my shooting time, me and Beau (Levesque) were just talking about it and he said it. I understood either way. It’s hard to start, especially with the rotations that we have, for me to start and only play, I was on a minutes restriction I don’t know if you guys knew that, but it’s hard for me to start with the rotation that LeBron has, for me to stay around 25-27 minutes. It got brought up during my shooting time and I said I was open to whatever. Definitely felt weird coming off the bench, but it’s basketball at the end of the day.”
Reaves added that isn’t sure if he’ll have his minutes increased against the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day but is ready if it happens:
“I don’t know, I hope so. I felt good out there, so I feel like I should be able to just go out there and play.”
While the loss will sting, seeing Reaves back in action healthy is an excellent sign. Hopefully he is able to play more against the Rockets because they’ll need his scoring and ball handling to do so.
JJ Redick always believed Austin Reaves could be an All-Star
Head coach JJ Redick has sung Reaves’ praises since coming to Los Angeles and the guard is responding with his best year to date. In fact, Redick said he always believed Reaves could be an All-Star some day.
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