How D’Angelo Russell prepared Austin Reaves for Lakers interrogation

LOS ANGELES – It was Friday night and D’Angelo Russell was back in town, his first matchup against Los Angeles Lakers since being traded to the Brooklyn Nets. So it seemed fitting that with the game on the line the ball would find its way into his hands. D’Angelo Russell eventually missed a potential game-winner, and the Lakers escaped with a 102-101 victory, but Austin Reaves must have thought the ball was going through the net.

“Man, it looked good. “It’s not good for us, but the ball looked good in the air,” Reaves said. “I’ve seen him make that shot a million times. . .he played a hell of a game.”

That wasn’t all Reaves had to say about his former teammate.

Couple shared a warm hug at midcourt after the game, and Austin Reaves revealed that D’Angelo Russell helped him weather the storm that comes when he’s a Laker.

“There are so many ups and downs in this league. “To me, the most important thing about being a Laker is the more you can stay connected to the group and connected to each other,” Reaves said. “D’Lo really helped me with that when he arrived. Having been through that, being drafted here, as a young player, he’s seen everything that I’ve been through or what I’ve been through.”

“When he came here, he really taught me how to, not let the noise affect me, but just push it aside and worry about making the team better, how to keep growing and getting better,” Reaves continued. “I feel like that’s the main thing, just to really continue to grow as a leader.”

It was a huge game for Reaves, who finished with a career-high 38 points in the Lakers’ win. In a sense, he has dealt with much of the same scrutiny as Russell, particularly on social media from the fan base. It comes with the territory of playing for the Lakers, and thanks to Russell, Reaves is ready to deal with it.

Austin Reaves is reaching new heights with the Lakers

Since the Lakers have made Reaves the team’s permanent starting point guard, he seems to have taken his game to another level. His offensive production has increased in terms of points, and he is adjusting to his new role as a primary ball handler and playmaker, with some mixed results.

One area of ​​potential concern during this stretch is Reaves’ changing numbers, but the Lakers’ head coach JJ Redick recently talked about why he’s not worried about turnovers numbers.

So far this season, Reaves has averaged 18.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 44.3 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from the three-point line. and 82.9 percent shooting from the free throw line. .

While Reaves had some great games; 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day, 26 points and 16 assists against the Sacramento Kings a few days later and 14 points and 14 assists to shut out the Miami Heat earlier this week, there were a few setbacks mixed in there.

He shot just 4 of 13 from the field and turned the ball over four times in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs that began last week. In the Lakers’ loss to the Detroit Pistons just before Christmas, he played pretty well, but had six turnovers and didn’t finish the game well.

But through it all, his mindset helped him stay the course.

“Sometimes when you’re not playing well, you can think about things you could be doing better.” . .instead of just keep doing what you’ve been doing and just trust the work process that I’ve put in,” Reeves said. “A couple of bad games, everyone has them.” . .just what can I do in those games to even help us be successful.”