No one said the second round for the Los Angeles Lakers would be easy, and they’re certainly up against it playing the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers had a chance to to close out the Warriors in Game 5, but the defending champions predictably didn’t lie down and instead extended their season. Now, it’s up to Los Angeles to get the job done on their home floor, a place they’ve yet to be beaten during the playoffs.
Heading into Game 6, Austin Raves said he and the team will work together to figure things out and should have a response to Golden State’s punch back. “Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of like every other loss. You never want to have two in a row. Like I said, they’re the defending champions for a reason. They’re a good team. They’re never going to just fold and give you what you want. But there’s a lot of things that we need to do better, and like I said, we’ll go watch film and figure those things out, and then at the least we’re going to come out with a lot more firepower, a lot more energy and see what we have.”
One of the ways Golden State has been able to climb back into the series is by pulling Anthony Davis away from the basket on defense. Reaves admitted he didn’t have an answer for the issue, though he remained confident in the coaching staff’s ability to figure it out.
“Like I’ve said a couple times, it’s a chess piece at this point, like a chess match. They’ve got a really good coach, we’ve got a really good coach. They’re going back and forth with their schemes and stuff like that.
“I don’t know the answer to that. I haven’t watched the game yet. But anytime we can have AD on the back line of defense it’s a lot better for us than him being on the perimeter just because he can alter so many shots. But the fix for that, I don’t know yet. But I’m sure the coaching staff and everybody on the team is looking for ways for us to be better.”
Game 6 is going to a nail-biter as both teams have plenty of the line. If Reaves is indeed feeling good physically, he’ll need to play a sizable role in order to help the purple and gold advance.
Austin Reaves believes Game 6 against Grizzlies will help against Warriors
The Lakers’ first and second rounds have played out exactly the same so far, which leads Reaves to believe that their previous Game 6 will help for the one against the Warriors.
“Yeah, for sure. This series we played basically the same as the last Memphis series as far as game by game, win by win, loss by loss. You can look back at that, look and see the energy and the effort that we come out with in Game 6 from the get-go. Even the third quarter, the intensity, the attention to detail and all those little things that will hopefully help us win this series.”
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