Austin Reaves gets brutally honest about how losing to the Blazers wasn’t fun

Austin Reeves was leaving with 51 points in an impressive 127-120 victory Los Angeles Lakers via the Sacramento Kings. But he and the Lakers didn’t have much time to celebrate that incredible career outing. The Lakers had to go in less than 24 hours later, as they had to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

That game against the Blazers went just as well for the Lakers; they ended up suffering a 122-108 loss, as their modest roster couldn’t keep up with a much younger and deeper Blazers team. This LA team, remember, was without Luka Doncic and LeBron James. They were without Gabe Vincentwho will miss two to four weeks with an ankle injury. To make matters worse, Marcus Smart and Jaxon Hayes were also out.

Reeves admitted it it was no fun at all to go against the Blazers and suffer a loss.

“Last night was fun. I didn’t sleep much. It was a lot more fun because we won. (Tonight), it’s not as much fun when you don’t win,” Reaves told reporters after their loss to the Blazers, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“Last night was fun … (Tonight) isn’t as much fun when you don’t win.” Austin Reeves on the incredible experience of scoring 92 points in 48 hours in two games in two cities. pic.twitter.com/L9aKuOf21l

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 28, 2025

Reaves, for his part, followed by his incredible 51-point outing against the Kings with another solid outing, putting up 41 points on 13-22 shooting from the field against a Blazers team that hangs its hat on the defensive end of the floor.

The Lakers guard was hounded by Tumani Kamara and Jrue Holiday all night, and still managed to elevate the Purple and Gold’s offense to a respectable level.

This Lakers team, however, needs to get healthy very quickly, as they are in danger of burning Reaves this early in the season if this continues.

The Blazers take on the Lakers

The Blazers certainly learned from the Kings’ mistake; they did not allow the Lakers to simply bring the ball unhindered and enter their offensive sets without much resistance.

Portland pressured the backcourt all night, resulting in some silly turnovers by the Lakers. They needed ball handling so badly, and they couldn’t rely on Nick Smith Jr. or Bronie James to provide some relief in the game.

The Lakers, however, will have to survive at least another five to six days without another primary player to share the load with Reaves.