Austin Reaves' simple statement after awful performance on Friday
· Yahoo Sports
Friday's game against the Golden State Warriors started off well for the Los Angeles Lakers. They blasted off to a 40-15 lead and were forcing turnovers and turning them into easy baskets, while Luka Doncic got off to his customary fast start.
But they went cold quickly in the second quarter when Doncic took his usual rest to start the period. The Lakers turned to Austin Reaves to carry them with Doncic on the bench, but the Warriors continually pressured his ball-handling, forcing him into eight turnovers. Reaves shot a decent 9-of-19 from the field, but he also went 1-of-6 from 3-point range, and the Lakers suffered a 112-95 defeat.
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He could've made excuses after the game or even blamed external factors. Instead, he admitted that he performed poorly.
“Yeah, I was terrible again,” Reaves said. “That’s it.”
This was the second game in a row that Reaves committed eight turnovers. Dating back to at least last season, opponents have found that he and Doncic can be pressured into giving up the basketball when played tightly on the perimeter.
“Just bad,” Reaves said. “We were bad. That first group that started the second unit was bad. Like I said, it starts with me. So I’ll be better.”
The Lakers' second unit was frigid on Friday. It produced just seven points, as Collin Sexton missed all six of his field-goal attempts and Quentin Grimes took just three shots, making one of them. Meanwhile, Golden State's bench scored 50 points.
As a team, Golden State shot 47.8% from 3-point range, while the Lakers went just 11-of-39 from that distance. Doncic, who scored 37 points, had six of those made 3-pointers.
Los Angeles will host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday and the Miami Heat on Monday. The Raptors are first in opponents' turnover percentage and are very capable of humbling L.A., even without Kawhi Leonard, who will not play on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Lakers Wire: Austin Reaves' simple statement after awful performance on Friday