In the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 117-95 Game 1 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, only Luka Doncic played up to his standards. After they fell behind by a wide margin, Doncic tried to spark them and ended up with 37 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
It was bad enough that LeBron James had an anemic 19 points in Game 1. But Austin Reaves also contributed to the defeat by scoring only 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting after closing out the regular season in such strong fashion. Fourteen of his points came in the third quarter.
Reaves seemed to hold himself accountable when he used some choice language to describe his play on Saturday.
“[Expletive],” Reaves said. “I wasn’t myself. To what the reason was, don’t know. But just got to go out there and be myself, play my game and have fun doing it.”
The undrafted guard averaged 20.2 points a game during the regular season, and he put up 24.9 points a game on 52.4% overall shooting and 42.4% from 3-point range in his last 17 regular-season games. By starting to play at a legitimate All-Star level, he has given the Lakers a legitimate “Big Three.”
He will need to get back to being his usual self and perhaps even have a mini-explosion in Game 2 on Tuesday if Los Angeles is to get a victory and tie this series.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Austin Reaves acknowledged he didn’t play well enough in Game 1 loss
In the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 117-95 Game 1 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, only Luka Doncic played up to his standards. After they fell behind by a wide margin, Doncic tried to spark them and ended up with 37 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
It was bad enough that LeBron James had an anemic 19 points in Game 1. But Austin Reaves also contributed to the defeat by scoring only 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting after closing out the regular season in such strong fashion. Fourteen of his points came in the third quarter.
Reaves seemed to hold himself accountable when he used some choice language to describe his play on Saturday.
“[Expletive],” Reaves said. “I wasn’t myself. To what the reason was, don’t know. But just got to go out there and be myself, play my game and have fun doing it.”
The undrafted guard averaged 20.2 points a game during the regular season, and he put up 24.9 points a game on 52.4% overall shooting and 42.4% from 3-point range in his last 17 regular-season games. By starting to play at a legitimate All-Star level, he has given the Lakers a legitimate “Big Three.”
He will need to get back to being his usual self and perhaps even have a mini-explosion in Game 2 on Tuesday if Los Angeles is to get a victory and tie this series.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Austin Reaves acknowledged he didn’t play well enough in Game 1 loss
