Austin Reaves has become a legitimate co-star for LeBron James and Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers will need him if they hope to capture the franchise’s 18th championship.
The road to another title began this past Saturday when the Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves for Game 1. Los Angeles walked into the matchup as the favorites because they have more star power and home-court advantage, but Minnesota took control of the series after a dominant Game 1 performance. The Timberwolves won 117-95, forcing the Lakers to rethink their game-plan and putting more pressure on them to hold serve in Game 2.
Reaves had arguably his worst half of basketball this season in the first half as he only managed to score two points. While Reaves eventually got going in the third quarter, it wasn’t enough as Los Angeles’ defense failed to get back in transition and defend the 3-point line.
After the loss, Reaves took accountability for his performance and vowed to be better.
“Bad. Didn’t play very well,” he admitted. “Got a couple shots to go in the third quarter, but through the whole midst of the game, I have to be better. I have to help us control the game better and like I said, I’ll watch the film and get better.”
Reaves also made sure to emphasize that losing Game 1 isn’t the end of the series and that he and the Lakers can still turn things around when they play Game 2 on Tuesday.
“I think that kind of was the mood. You don’t win or lose (a series) in one game,” Reaves said. “We have an opportunity on Tuesday to even up the series on our home court and go compete for two games on their home court. You never lose after the first game, second game, third game, to be honest. You gotta get beat four times or you gotta win four times. That’s the outlook. We know we didn’t play very well. If we play to our standards then we’ll get better.”
It’s hard not to overreact after a brutal loss in the playoffs, but as Reaves noted, the series is far from over. Teams will make adjustments and tinker with things like lineups and schemes, so it stands to reason that the Lakers will look better in the next game.
However, the team as a whole needs to play with much more urgency and effort if it hopes to win the next game as the Timberwolves showed they won’t back down no matter who’s on the floor. Los Angeles has its work cut out to climb back in this series as Minnesota presents several problems.
Even with Doncic and LJames available, Reaves seems to understand that the purple and gold need him operating at peak levels to beat a formidable squad like the Timberwolves.
Rich Paul believes Austin Reaves is X-factor in Timberwolves series
Austin Reaves is considered more of a constant for the Lakers after taking an offensive leap this past season, but Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul still believes he’s the X-factor in the series against the Timberwolves.
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