Tag: Austin Reaves

Austin Reaves talked about getting through being benched

Lakers guard Austin Reaves wasn’t thrilled about getting benched early this season, but he kept his head up while continuing to produce.

One of the many reasons Darvin Ham was fired after two seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers is that he spent the first half of this season shuffling through different starting lineups.

At one point in November, after they started 3-5, he benched guard Austin Reaves in favor of Cam Reddish, a former lottery pick who, in the eyes of many, has turned out to be a complete bust.

Reddish started 26 games, even as the Lakers continued to struggle to string together wins. Reaves didn’t return to the starting lineup until early January, but to his credit, he didn’t complain publicly.

After Los Angeles was eliminated from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets, he spoke to the media about getting through that period of time early in the season when he was coming off the bench (at 4:16).

“Before Game 15 this year, I was moved to the bench,” Reaves said. “There was a lot of things that happened this year that you have to be mentally tough to get through. You have to fight your way through it. That’s one thing I’ll give myself credit for is I never folded. I never felt sorry for myself. Obviously, there’s frustrations but I woke up every single day and went to work and tried to get better and tried to help our team win. That’s all I care about is winning.

“Obviously, there’s things that I can always do better to help us win but every single night I go out there on the court, that’s my main goal is to win. At the end of this year, I can say that’s what I did.”

Although Reaves went to the bench and saw his playing time decrease slightly, his quality of play didn’t decrease. In fact, as a reserve this season, he shot 50% from the field and 37.8% from 3-point range, compared to 48.1% and 36.2%, respectively, as a starter.

He may see his name come up in trade rumors this summer as the Lakers look to upgrade their roster. But one should expect him to ignore that and continue to train hard in advance of his fourth NBA season.

Darvin Ham is ‘highly unlikely’ to return as head coach of the Lakers, per reports. Here is why.

Darvin Ham may have already coached his final game for the Los Angeles Lakers.

After two years with the organization, Darvin Ham may have already coached his final game for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite an improbable run to the Western Conference Finals in 2023 as well as a championship in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, the Lakers arguably underperformed relative to expectations during Ham’s time as head coach.

Already reportedly on the hot seat amid a disconnect earlier this season, a first-round exit makes his case to return even less compelling.

Following another elimination against the Denver Nuggets in a second straight postseason for Los Angeles, it seemed possible that Ham had already accepted his own fate with the franchise. He reflected on his experience with the team, calling it a “hell of a two years” as head coach.

Some of the initial reporting provided further context as to why Ham may already know he could be on the way out as the head coach.

For example, the players reportedly felt the coaching staff held an “absence of effective direction” and the team occasionally felt they won games on their own (via The Athletic)

“[By] the time the Lakers’ season ended in Game 5 against Denver on Monday night, when Jamal Murray’s second game-winner of the first-round series sent the Lakers home less than a year after the Nuggets swept them last May, there were strong signs within the organization that Ham would be deemed most responsible.”

Per the report, Ham’s status as head coach is in “serious peril” and it is “highly unlikely” that he will return to the organization next season.

Other criticism included his “fluctuating rotations, game plans and lack of adjustments” during the regular season and playoffs. While players reportedly had “tremendous respect” for Ham as a person, they felt they needed someone to actually coach them as well.

Another report from Dave McMenamin was just as damning for the coach. Ham’s job status was described as “very much in jeopardy” heading into the offseason (via ESPN):

“The internal expectations to win the championship in June only heightened, while the fallout from shuffling his lineup — first benching Reaves and later D’Angelo Russell while sticking with Taurean Prince even after Jarred Vanderbilt had returned from a left heel injury that cost him the first 20 games of the season — hurt Ham’s reputation both inside and outside the organization, sources told ESPN.”

His “lack of accountability” came into question, as did his inability to settle on a starting lineup.

With all that in mind, fans of the team can likely expect a new head coach next season. As for the rest of the roster, though, that is far more uncertain.

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Turning point in Lakers season revealed

Darvin Ham’s decision to bench two key members of the rotation during the regular-season played a role in his teams downfall.

The Los Angeles Lakers season has come to an end. The Denver Nuggets eliminated them in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Purple and Gold endured a disappointing season in which they struggled to find an identity on either end of the floor. And they found it difficult to build consistent habits that are required to be a contending team.

Part of the Lakers’ struggles were due to Ham’s inability to find a settled rotation. He consistently chopped and changed his lineups, combinations and substitution patterns. According to Shams Charania, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic, a major turning point in the team’s season was when Ham benched Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell midway through the season.

“The decision to bench both Reaves and Russell, the team’s consensus third- and fourth-best players, did not sit well with many within the organization and locker room, according to team and league sources,” They reported. “Ham’s decision was viewed as a panic move that backfired, a divergence from the team’s stated goals of developing reps and continuity with the core players and groups from last season. Instead, those lineups and groupings didn’t play as much as they could have, even as bench or closing lineups.”

Ham’s future with the Lakers will be a hot topic in the coming weeks. His questionable decision-making will undoubtedly be a factor in the front office’s decision-making process as will their plan for the coming season.

The Lakers front office has some tough conversations in the future. What to do regarding Ham’s position within the franchise will likely be at the top of the list. Either way, the Lakers have underperformed this season, and they will be expected to bounce back in a big way.

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Austin Reaves holds himself accountable after Lakers are eliminated

Austin Reaves said after the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Nuggets that he’s unhappy with how he played throughout the series.

After emerging as a quality player who isn’t afraid of pressure last season, Austin Reaves was expected by some to only get better and even become an All-Star moving forward.

While he didn’t exactly reach the heights some said he would, he did improve his scoring, rebounding, assists and steals averages this season compared to last season. But while he played well in Game 5 of the Lakers’ first-round playoff series versus the Nuggets, overall, he didn’t play up to his standards for the whole series. In particular, he struggled throughout the series with his 3-point shooting.

Afterward, he said that he’s frustrated with himself for not playing as well as he could’ve, especially in the first two games of the series.

The first step to getting better is to acknowledge that one has to get better and to hold one’s self accountable. Reaves has shown the ability and willingness to reflect and not blame others.

Austin Reaves has defended Jamal Murray well in Lakers-Nuggets series

Lakers guard Austin Reaves has been criticized for his weak defense, but he’s been getting the job done lately against Jamal Murray.

After the Los Angeles Lakers won Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, it seems they have a slight chance to make this first-round playoff series at least somewhat competitive.

Perhaps the biggest key going into this series, as well as last year’s Western Conference finals versus the Nuggets, was containing Jamal Murray. Last year, Murray simply killed the Lakers by averaging 32.5 points a game as they were swept.

This year, Denver couldn’t sweep the Lakers, and perhaps it will have to return to Los Angeles for Game 6. A big reason the Purple and Gold have built double-digit leads in each of the four games in this series is because Murray has struggled. He’s shooting just 38% from the field and 20.8% from 3-point range thus far.

Austin Reaves deserves plenty of credit for Murray’s struggles. He has held the Denver star to 30.8% shooting overall in this series, per Jacob Rude of SBNation’s Silver Screen and Roll.

Reaves has been judged to be a weak link in L.A.’s defense all season. However, Murray hasn’t found himself with as many good looks, especially off pick-and-rolls and dribble handoffs, as he did in last May’s Western Conference finals.

LeBron James, Austin Reaves praise Anthony Davis’ rebounding in Game 4

Make no mistake about it: Anthony Davis’ play, particularly on the boards, was a major factor in the Lakers’ Game 4 win over the Nuggets.

Anthony Davis has had to endure fans and the national media taking shots at him for years. Time and again, he has been accused of being soft, brittle, lazy and unmotivated.

So far in the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff series versus the Denver Nuggets, he has put up tremendous numbers. However, he has faded down the stretch, mostly because his teammates haven’t found a way to get him the ball in his sweet spots.

In Game 4, with the Lakers facing the possibility of getting swept, Davis scored 25 points. Although he only put up two points in the fourth quarter, he found another way to keep putting his signature on the game.

He gobbled up 23 rebounds, allowing L.A. to outrebound the Nuggets for the first time in seemingly forever. It was a major factor in the team’s 119-108 victory that snapped its 11-game losing streak to the defending NBA champs.

Austin Reaves said afterward Davis pretty much led by example with his work on the boards.

LeBron James echoed the same sentiment while reminding everyone that Davis is one of the best big men in basketball.

While Davis can be counted on to eat up the glass on a consistent basis, the Lakers will need to find a way to allow him to produce points late in games if they are to have any chance of making this series competitive.

But his tendency to eat up the glass on a consistent basis is a big reason they’re still alive rather than planning their summer vacations right now.

Austin Reaves on upcoming Lakers vs. Nuggets series: ‘We’re gonna win’

Lakers guard Austin Reaves seems to be sporting a supremely confident attitude ahead of the team’s playoff series against the Nuggets.

The Los Angeles Lakers will begin the 2024 NBA Playoffs on Saturday evening when they visit the defending world champion Denver Nuggets. It will be a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals when they got swept.

Not that many people feel L.A. has a real shot in this series. For it to win, a lot of things will have to go right, but for the Nuggets to win, they will simply have to keep doing what they have been doing since last spring.

Guard Austin Reaves actually played well in last year’s Western Conference Finals, averaging 21.3 points a game while shooting a blistering 56.0% from 3-point range on an ample volume of attempts. He’s also one of the Lakers’ most confident players, and he showed tons of confidence when he made a bold statement about this year’s rematch.

Via Heavy Sports:

“We’re gonna win,” Reaves told Heavy Sports in a one-on-one interview to promote his “Perfect 10” episode with Hotels.com. “If you don’t go in with that mentality, then what’s the point of going in?”

At the same time, he warned that his team will need to be very on-point in the fourth quarters of games.

“You got to be really good the fourth quarter team because they execute so well in the fourth quarter,” Reaves said of the Nuggets. “They don’t make mistakes and anytime you make a mistake in the fourth quarter, they capitalize on that.”

In last year’s series, the Lakers got thoroughly outplayed in the fourth quarters of the final three games. All three of those contests were decided in the final minutes when Denver went on several surges and the Lakers were unable to do anything in response.

If they control enough of the final minutes of each game this time around, perhaps they’ll have a chance of winning — at least an outside chance.

Watch: Austin Reaves serves up alley-oop pass to LeBron James

Early in the Lakers’ game versus the Cavaliers on Saturday, Austin Reaves and LeBron James teamed up on a spectacular play.

After a successful six-game road trip during which they won five contests, the Los Angeles Lakers returned home and hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rare Saturday afternoon game.

It presented them with a golden opportunity to move up from ninth place in the Western Conference as the regular season winds down. Los Angeles entered Saturday’s game with a 44-33 record, the same mark as the eighth-place Sacramento Kings. It also came in just one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans, who are in seventh place.

The Purple and Gold looked pretty energetic to start the game. On one play, Austin Reaves teamed up with LeBron James on a spectacular alley-oop pass.

Reaves has been gradually racking up more assists as the season has wore on. In March, he averaged 6.6 dimes a game, which is his highest single-month average this season.

LeBron James talks about gaining trust in Austin Reaves on his podcast

What was the moment when LeBron James tested Austin Reaves and gained trust in the undrafted guard?

Last season was a big coming-out party for Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves. The undrafted Arkansas native had shown some promise the previous year as a rookie, but he blossomed big time during the 2022-23 campaign.

He averaged 13 points while shooting 52.9% from the field, 39.8% from 3-point range and 86.4% from the free-throw line in the regular season. Then in the playoffs, he increased his production and 3-point accuracy while helping L.A. get to the Western Conference finals.

Reaves started the playoffs with a bang by scoring 23 points in Game 1 of the first round versus the Memphis Grizzlies. Fourteen of those points came in the fourth quarter with the outcome hanging in the balance, which led to his viral “I’m HIM!” moment.

LeBron James said on his new podcast “Mind the Game” that it was the moment he knew he could trust Reaves.

“It was either Game 1 or Game 2, where in the fourth quarter, (I was) just like, ‘AR, go win it for us.’ … And I felt like if I could get AR and instill AR and that confidence in that fourth quarter to make plays and win that game, it was just going to pay dividends for the rest of my time with him and the rest of his time when I’m not with him.”

After a somewhat uneven first half of the season, Reaves has been shooting a high percentage over the last two months while averaging 18.3 points in his last 25 games coming into Friday. He has stepped up in the assists department, and he had a triple-double on Tuesday to lead the Lakers to an improbable win over the Milwaukee Bucks in two overtimes without James.

Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves were unhappy with Lakers’ defense vs. Pacers

The Lakers beat the Pacers on Sunday despite giving up 145 points, and Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves said they simply need to be better.

The Los Angeles Lakers earned their third win in a row on Sunday by getting past the Indiana Pacers, 150-145. They led by as many as 19 points in the second half, but withstood a furious Indiana rally in the final minutes to improve to 39-32.

The bright spot was the fact Los Angeles scored 150 points, its highest scoring output since the 1986-87 season, even though D’Angelo Russell sat out due to illness. The downside was that, well, it gave up 145 points.

Anthony Davis was downright dominant with 36 points and 16 rebounds. When he was asked about his team scoring 150 points, he turned the attention to the defensive end of the floor.

“(We were) just terrible defensively,” Davis said. “They hit some shots toward the end, some deep 3s. We can do what we want offensively, as you can see tonight, but we have to be able to defend, especially when we’re up on a team like that. Don’t try to give them no life.

“But at this point in this season, a win is a win and we’ll take it but we have to learn from it as well.”

Guard Austin Reaves, who stepped up in Russell’s absence, agreed.

Via Lakers Nation:

“You never want to give up 145,” Reaves said. “They got hot late, I think with under a minute left they probably hit three or four 3s, maybe more.

“But we just got to be better on the ball, in rotations and really just collectively guard as a team. When we do that, you got AD back there making things tough in the paint, we’re a good defensive team or are defensive-minded.”

While the Lakers have been playing at an elite level offensively over the past two months, they have ranked near the bottom of the NBA in multiple defensive categories. They will need to step things up on that end of the court in order to reach the playoffs and do some real damage there.