Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves has been one of the team’s most reliable players all season long. And things were no different in the Lakers’ Game 1 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Although Reaves was not the team’s leading scorer, he did outscore both LeBron James and Anthony Davis by putting up 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting and 3-for-5 from three-point range. Fourteen of Reaves’ 23 points came in the fourth quarter.
His best stretch came in the final minutes of regulation and effectively sealed the win for the Lakers. The Lakers led 111-109 with 3:53 to go in the fourth quarter. From there, Reaves proceeded to score the team’s next nine points, singlehandedly kickstarting what became a game-ending 17-3 run.
This late-game performance caught the attention of multiple NBA stars, including Trae Young, Damian Lillard and Kyle Kuzma.
Austin Reaves getting that bag this summer.. My boy cookin!!
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) April 16, 2023
My bad … Reaves like that 🙏🏽
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 16, 2023
Hillbilly ommmmggg
— kuz (@kylekuzma) April 16, 2023
Reaves — who is slated to be an Arenas Rule restricted free agent this summer — is definitely getting national attention for the types of performances that he’s been putting together all season. If he continues to impress on the biggest stages like this, he could be due for a big payday.
The Lakers will also be in a great spot as a team if Reaves and the other role players can compete at this level. For the Lakers to win Game 1 against the Grizzlies by 16 with James and Davis both not leading the team in scoring speaks volumes to the team’s depth.
Reaves has already shown that this type of play is sustainable from him. Since the day of the trade deadline, Reaves is averaging 16.5 points and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 57.7% from the field, 45.6% from three and 84.3% from the free throw line.
He’s been in double figures in 23 of those 27 games and he scored over 20 points in six of the team’s last 13 games.
LeBron James knew that Reaves would fit right away
It didn’t take long for James to see the potential Reaves had when he first joined the Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He called Reaves a great basketball IQ player and felt — from his first practice with the team — that he would eventually have a chance to show his impact on the game. Now, he can play an instrumental role in what hopefully can be a deep playoff run for L.A.
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