Heading into Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers were set to take on a rebuilding Brooklyn Nets who were coming off their worst loss in franchise history against the L.A. Clippers. With Anthony Davis being a late scratch, LeBron James and Austin Reaves were slatted to burden a heavier offensive load.
The Nets played with a ton of confidence with D’Angelo Russell returning to Crypto.com Arena and young players getting opportunities due to injuries. The Lakers did not put the Nets away early and it ended up nearly costing them the game.
However, Reaves put up a career-high 38 points and James chipped in 29 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to secure a win. Head coach JJ Redick commended them for propelling L.A. to a win amid their struggles on both ends.
“Both him and LeBron [James] just willed us to a win,” Redick said after the Lakers 102-101 win. “We weren’t very good tonight. A little bit of that is the nature of their defense and just all the switching. It just took us out of any rhythm offensively. I thought we did a better job in the second half of getting to our follows, not letting the ball stick and trying to get some slips and some ghosts.
“I just don’t think we were sharp at all offensively in the second half. There’s too many lapses and too many non-contests. But a lot of credit to those two guys. I thought Gabe [Vincent] hit some big shots for us. Subbed Max [Christie] back in with about a minute to go, and he got a big stop at the end, didn’t allow any separation and got good contests.”
Since the Russell trade, Reaves has had to be the de facto point guard at times and Redick expressed that they needed him to create offense given Brooklyn’s defense.
“We need him to create offense for us,” he said. “A lot of it just because of the nature of their defense. Wasn’t necessarily creating for others, the normal pocket stuff and getting downhill and getting to the ball against the switching defense. I thought we, as a staff, tried to get as much as we can control. Meaning ATOs, dead ball situations, getting LeBron the ball obviously but then getting AR some off-ball looks. The two big shots he hit in the fourth were off-ball looks. We ran some other stuff, whether it was making the 3 or just getting in the paint and making some plays there. I thought he was really good at that.”
Now a few months into his head coaching career, Redick has trusted Reaves to be the main ball-handler for the team and the Arkansas native is showcasing his true colors as a player.
JJ Redick: Austin Reaves has played at All-Star level for Lakers
There admittedly have been some growing pains as Austin Reaves has transitioned to the Lakers’ starting point guard. However, JJ Redick believes that Reaves has played at an All-Star level since taking on the primary creator role, and that continued on Friday night.
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