Anthony Davis has been the Los Angeles Lakers’ best player all season long and D’Angelo Russell has garnered a ton of praise for his play as well. Both once again stepped up in a big way in the Lakers’ comeback win over the Milwaukee Bucks, but on this night, guard Austin Reaves got his deserved flowers too.
Reaves was outstanding, recording his second career triple-double with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists and also came up with a massive clutch 3-pointer to break a tie with just 38 seconds left in the second overtime. The Lakers would then hold on to take down the Bucks by four and afterwards, Russell was glowing in his praise for Reaves.
Russell called Reaves the Lakers ‘iron man’ this season, having not missed a single game, and noted how players like him make life easier for a head coach, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“What haven’t we already said about the guy? He’s a warrior. He’s an iron man. What can I say, the dude guards the best player, no matter if the shot goes in or goes out, he gets back on D. He just does everything right. I think as a coach, he makes it easy for you when you have a guy like that and put him on the floor, you know what he’s gonna do, you know what you’re gonna get. He hasn’t missed a game. Dude is an iron man, he’s a warrior.”
There was some talk about Reaves potentially making a leap to borderline All-Star level and while he hasn’t done that, he has still been excellent for the Lakers this year. His consistency is needed and as Russell noted, Reaves has taken on the challenge of defending the opposing team’s best guard and does a more than admirable job at doing so while still being one of the team’s main creators offensively.
Reaves proved during the playoffs last season that the Lakers can rely on him in the biggest games and Tuesday night against Milwaukee served as a reminder that the guard is ready to deliver when the team needs it most.
Austin Reaves: Lakers faced challenge of beating Bucks without LeBron James ‘head-on’
The Lakers cut a 19-point deficit to 12 with just under seven minutes remaining. During that ensuing timeout Austin Reaves said the Lakers had a choice of letting things slip away, or really buckling down and they chose the latter.
The Lakers guard praised his teammates for really locking in and being extra aggressive down the stretch to complete the comeback. Reaves noted that the Lakers faced the challenge of defeating the Bucks ‘head-on’ which is an even tougher feat without LeBron James in the lineup.
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