Reaves was a key contributor to L.A.’s second half comeback.
Your Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Boston Celtics at home last night in overtime 122-118, though the game was threatening to be a Boston blowout as late as the midway point of its third quarter.
Lakers reserve shooting guard Austin Reaves played a big part of the game’s second half and overtime period, suiting up for 22:06 of a possible 29 minutes. He chipped in a pretty modest four points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 35:35, and posted a solid +8 plus-minus.
After the contest, Reaves spoke with gathered reporters about another disappointing close loss.
“Obviously we didn’t get out to the start we wanted to” Reaves noted, which this writer notes may have something to do with the fact that team’s starting backcourt of Patrick Beverley and Dennis Schroder might just not be that good, “but [I’m] really happy with the way we competed end of the third, start of the fourth, through the whole fourth honestly.”
“You’re gonna lose games in this league, but that was another one that felt like we should have won,” Reaves reflected.
Despite not starting, Reaves and Troy Brown Jr. were mainstays for much of the second half and overtime period, thanks to providing more switchable defense while remaining threats on offense. “I think it was just energy and effort, everybody laying it out on the line. I know especially for me and Troy, that was our focus. We knew that AD, ‘Bron [and] Russ [were] going to take care of the offensive end, so the defensive end was the point of emphasis for me and him. But everybody played well [in that lineup].”
Reaves and Brown both were solid contributors in helping the team work its way back into the game late. But Spectrum SportsNet opted to only post an interview with Reaves on its Twitter page. It’d be nice to hear from Brown, too, who despite being demoted to a reserve role has still managed to play big minutes of late as Darvin Ham’s preferred wing defender among his role players.
Brown played 30:48 and scored two points on just three shots, grabbed two rebounds, and snagged a steal in his time, also focusing on defensive coverages over offensive glory. But he posted a team-best +12 for the contest, which suggests that his time on the court was pretty invaluable, with or without the scoring.
