This Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their third consecutive loss at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. The defeat prompted an insightful reflection from Austin Reaves on how the iconic California franchise is perceived by other teams around the NBA.
“Nobody feels sorry for us,” Reaves asserted during a postgame interview shared on X by Spectrum SportsNet. “Everybody is going to want to beat us by 30, so we gotta figure out a way to not let that happen and go compete and win games…There’s no easy way around it. We don’t have room for error, we gotta go play really good basketball games.”
Analyzing the Lakers’ performance at Fiserv Forum, where they fell 126-106, the 26-year-old guard highlighted how the absence of key players was crucial to the team’s struggles. “Three starters play a significant role for us, they do a lot for our team,” he said, referring to the injured players currently sidelined: LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, and Maxi Kleber.
“I feel like the guys that have stepped up and gotten more minutes have played their ass off and played well. We just gotta figure out a way to do more as a collective group,” Reaves added.
LeBron James and Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers during a game against the Indiana Pacers on January 19, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Lakers have to weather the storm, Reaves says
Acknowledging the difficult challenge of playing without some of the team’s best players, Austin Reaves remained optimistic. “These are the times in a season when you’re tested. We gotta figure out a way to weather the storm. I have no doubt we’ll do that,” he said.
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“It’s just the nature of the league. At some point, every team in the league goes through some type of adversity and has situations where they got a couple of back-to-backs and aren’t fully healthy,” the guard reflected. “It’s no different for us.”
Lakers need LeBron
Among the players absent in Milwaukee on Thursday, the most notable is LeBron James. This was the second game the Los Angeles Lakers played without him, and both ended in losses, with the previous defeat coming against the Brooklyn Nets in New York.
Against the Bucks, even an impressive individual performance by Luka Doncic, who took charge with 45 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists, wasn’t enough. Austin Reaves was another standout for the Lakers, contributing 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. However, the team struggled in the absence of some of their stars, unable to contain the combined efforts of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and their teammates.
