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Austin Reaves again floated as a key trade piece for the LA Lakers' championship aspirations next year.
Austin Reaves and the LA Lakers will have a tall task ahead of them in Round 2 as they face the top-seeded OKC Thunder led by MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Despite the tough order, Reaves remained level-headed in his approach for their second-round matchup, especially against Gilgeous-Alexander, who is notorious for his foul-baiting antics and frequency in the free-throw line.
According to Reaves, he does not care about his ways of winning a game, as he is focused on trying to be the best version of himself against the best team in the league.
“I know that’s a tough topic to talk about because everybody blows it out of proportion,” Reaves said. “He wants to win and is gonna do whatever it takes to win. If it’s shoot 20 free throws, so be it. If I shoot 20 free throws, I’d be happy. I don’t think there’s any bad intentions with trying to get to the line.”
Austin Reaves was asked about his and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls.
“I know that’s a tough topic to talk about because everybody blows it out of proportion. He wants to win and is gonna do whatever it takes to win. If it’s shoot 20 free throws, so be it. If I
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 12.3 free throws per game in the Thunder’s first-round series win against the Phoenix Suns. He made 90 percent of his shots on the charity stripe en route to averaging 33.8 points per game throughout the entire series.
In the regular season, only Luka Doncic, Reaves’ teammate with the Lakers, had more free-throw attempts than Gilgeous-Alexander.
In Reaves’ case, he is averaging 7.3 attempts per game at the free-throw line. In his two playoff games played so far, he averaged 7.0 free throws against the Houston Rockets in the first round.
Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to be one of Reaves’ defensive assignments in their second-round matchup, as the Thunder has made it a habit to hunt for favorable matchups throughout games.
GettyAustin Reaves braces for Lakers-Thunder matchup.
Austin Reaves is bracing for a massive challenge in Round 2 against the Thunder. Yet, he remained unrelenting in his belief that the Lakers are capable of topping the defending champions, despite not having Luka Doncic, their top scorer, for the start of the series.
“You could say nobody thought we were going to get past Houston, but everybody in this building believed. It’s the same mindset going into this,” Reaves said of the Lakers’ Round 2 series against the Thunder.
“We obviously know the team that we’re about to face and how good they are and the problems that they can create for 48 minutes. So, we’ll have to lock in every single day, film, whatever it could be, to continue to get better and pay attention to all the little details like they do.”
The Thunder, as the top-seed in the Western Conference, has been the heavy favorite against the Lakers in Round 2.
The Thunder swept their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns, while the Lakers took down the Rockets in six games. LA won its first three games before dropping the next two games and sealing the series in Game 6.
GettyLakers face the Thunder in Round 2 of the NBA playoffs.
The Lakers and the Thunder will open their second-round series on Tuesday, May 5, in Oklahoma City. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.
It will be the first Lakers-Thunder series since the 2012 Western Conference semifinals, when the Thunder finished the series in five games and went on to advance to the NBA Finals.
Game 2 will be on Thursday, May 7, still in OKC. Games 3 and 4 will then be in Los Angeles on May 9 and May 11, respectively.
Rob Andrew Lo Rob Andrew Lo is a writer at Heavy Sports and is covering the NBA. He has covered local, collegiate, professional and international sports in various sites. He was the sports editor of The Varsitarian, the official student publication of University of Santo Tomas, and a sports, entertainment, and lifestyle writer for Rappler. A Journalism graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, he has built his voice across both collegiate and international platforms, previously contributing NBA coverage to Fansided and Sportskeeda. More about Rob Andrew Lo
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