LeBron James absent or more discreet, and D’Angelo Russell gone, Austin Reaves is taking on more and more volume in the Lakers’ game, and more particularly in creation. In December, the hero of the Christmas match averaged 7.8 passes, and he remains in three consecutive matches with 10 passes or more.
Tonight, against the Cavaliers, he is very close to his 4th career triple-double, and his second of the week, with 35 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds. When he’s not breaking his assists record, he’s tying his career points record. This shows that he is currently riding a good dynamic, even if his style of play remains at risk.
Winning accurately in this position
“He will have plenty of opportunities to play with and without the ball”underlines JJ Redick. “The very nature of his game is that you have to be prepared to live with some of his actions with the way he is aggressive, changes pace and makes quick decisions… You have to live with that, and that’s in By forcing things less, he will progress. »
The person concerned recognizes that he must do better, and he points the finger at his poor start to the match. If he becomes more than a lieutenant in the game, he must play much fairer. In the first quarter, he lost three balls and defended poorly, and the Cavaliers took a 15-point lead!
“If you ask me if I was bad at the start of the match, the answer is yes” he admits. “We do good things, we do bad things… Unfortunately, from the start, I did very bad things. I knew that if we wanted to get back into the match and give ourselves a chance, I had to play better.”
This is what he will do, even if the Lakers will never really manage to shake up the solid and confident Cavaliers with this status as NBA leaders. For Anthony Davis, Reaves’ good performance owes nothing to chance.
“Obviously he has a little more responsibility when Gabe’s not there and when LeBron’s not in the game, but he’s used to it. He’s been in the NBA long enough to know how to handle the point guard position, so there will be more situations like this. He is prepared for it and we have every confidence in him to play the point guard position.”
| Austin Reaves | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saison | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | To | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2021-22 | LAL | 61 | 23 | 45.9 | 31.7 | 83.9 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 7.3 |
| 2022-23 | LAL | 64 | 29 | 52.9 | 39.8 | 86.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 13.0 |
| 2023-24 | LAL | 82 | 32 | 48.6 | 36.7 | 85.3 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 15.9 |
| 2024-25 | LAL | 26 | 34 | 44.4 | 36.3 | 79.4 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 17.7 |
| Total | 233 | 29 | 48.5 | 36.5 | 84.7 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 13.0 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
