Despite being massive underdogs, the Los Angeles Lakers remained competitive for much of the night with the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series. LeBron James was outstanding, but Austin Reaves struggled mightily, finishing with just eight points on 3-of-16 shooting in the 18-point loss.
Reaves garnered a ton of criticism for his performance as the Lakers sorely need him to deliver in a big way, especially as the team remains without superstar Luka Doncic. But James came to his teammate’s defense after the game, reminding people of the difficult situation Reaves is in.
“He was out a month,” James said. “We know he’s gonna make shots and make plays, but that’s tough when you were out a month towards the end of the season. Obviously we’re trying to fast-track him getting back on the floor and doing the things he was doing before the injury or whatever the case may be. But he was out a month, so rightfully so if he has some games where he’s missing shots or whatever the case may be. But his presence alone helps us, no matter what.”
When returning from an injury, especially a severe one such as the Grade 2 left oblique strain Reaves was dealing with, teams are often able to ease players back into the fold if for nothing else than to get their conditioning up to par, amongst other things. But with the Lakers trying to close out a playoff series, and Doncic also out, Reaves wasn’t afforded that opportunity and was thrust right back into a major role as a primary scorer and creator.
Making things even tougher for Reaves is that he has to go against two of the best defenses in the NBA, first with the Houston Rockets and now the Thunder, who have multiple All-Defense caliber players on the perimeter and an elite rim protector in Chet Holmgren.
In the end, it is the playoffs and there won’t be any grace given or excuses accepted. The Lakers need Reaves to perform at a high level just to have a chance in this series, but kudos to James for speaking up for his teammate and not allowing people to forget how good Reaves has been all year, and remaining confident in him.
Austin Reaves knows he has to be better for Lakers
For his part, Reaves didn’t offer up any excuses for his poor performance either, saying that he has to limit his turnovers and adding that no one cares about his injury issues, he simply has to play better.
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