Austin Reaves did not look for cover after the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors on Friday. Reaves turned the ball over eight times, shot 9-for-19 from the field and posted a plus-minus of -13, the worst among Lakers starters, as the team squandered a 25-point first-half lead and lost by double digits. In his assessment, Reaves kept it simple: «I was terrible again. That’s it.»
Reaves acknowledged that he was not the only reason the Lakers collapsed, but he also made clear that a player on a superstar contract is judged by a superstar standard in losses. The source notes that the debate over how much of the blame he deserved was beside the point, since Reaves was as candid about his own performance as any observer would have been.
The Lakers’ struggles were most visible when Luka Dončić sat. The Lakers were strong with Dončić on the floor, largely because of his production, while the lineups without him were poor, with Reaves at the center of the problems. Many of the players in those non-Dončić groups joined the team this offseason, and the lack of chemistry is a plausible explanation for the slump. Reaves did not accept that as an excuse.
«It’s real, but that doesn’t give that second unit an excuse to be pretty terrible,» he said. «And that starts with me. I’ll watch the film and try to be better. But you have to learn on the fly and pick up things quickly. As I said, I have to be better to start that.»
The challenge also has a scouting dimension. Reaves has long been effective running second units, but those groups have often included LeBron James, and the situation is different now that Reaves is in the lead role without Dončić. Opponents have adjusted: the approach that has worked against him is to double-team him on ball screens and try to overwhelm him physically into turnovers. Reaves’ next task is to answer that pressure with a response of his own, and the early results show how much work remains before the second unit finds its footing.
The loss to the Warriors fits a pattern the Lakers are trying to correct as the season begins, with a rotation that has yet to settle around its stars. Reaves’ self-criticism, delivered without qualification, sets a clear standard for the group as it looks to regain its early lead and close games that slipped away.