The Los Angeles Lakers got big offensive nights from D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Davis in their contest against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. But Austin Reaves couldn’t quite get it going as he struggled from the field and, especially, 3-point range.
Reaves shot just 5-of-14 from the field and 2-of-8 from deep to finish with just 12 points in the Lakers’ loss to their rivals. In a game in which the Lakers were within two points with under eight minutes left, Reaves is someone they would turn to in order to get over the hump.
It simply wasn’t Reaves’ night, however, and the guard feels like if he had been able to knock down the open looks he got, the final score could have been different.
“I think just to touch on what DLo said about getting open looks, myself, I got a lot of open looks tonight, just didn’t capitalize on them,” Reaves said after the 11-point loss. “I’ve talked about it before, the league is an offensive game. Talked about how the 2015 Golden State Warriors, their offense was No. 1 that year and would be I think middle-of-the-pack this year.
“The game is trending in that direction, so you can take some positives out of that and like DLo said, if we — I — make open shots, the outcome could be different.”
Particularly in a game against the Clippers, who have so much firepower with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden leading the way, not to mention LeBron James sitting out, the Lakers couldn’t afford to not take advantage of the opportunities they had. Reaves is a competitor and failing to come through in those moments will eat at him.
Reaves was also attacked on the defensive end by the likes of Leonard and Harden and though he held his own and forced them into difficult shots, they knocked those shots down. But Reaves simply tipped his cap to them for their shot-making ability.
“You just try to compete,” Reaves added. “They’re hell of players, they’ve been playing in the league for a long time, made a lot of money. That’s what they do, but yeah, I’m not ever gonna shy away from the competition of trying to compete and get stops. You tip your hat to them when they make shots like that and go try to score on the other end.”
Reaves has been up and down this season but has shown he will come through more often than not when the lights are brightest. If he gets the opportunity again, there is no doubt the Lakers guard will be ready to make up for this performance.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves named finalist for 2024 USA Basketball Mens National Team
There was some good news for Austin Reaves as he was one of three Lakers to be named as part of the 41-player pool for the 2024 USA Basketball Mens National Team that will represent the country this summer at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Of course LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the other two Lakers players in the pool and while Reaves may not be high on some people’s lists, he played a huge role for the U.S. team that finished fourth in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
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