Austin Reaves stayed hot in the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
He finished with 33 points, five rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers took a 133-121 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
Even so, the guard was not too pleased about having to play 38 minutes against a team near the bottom of the standings.
Reaves was forced to stay on because his teammates did not listen to some important instructions from the coaching staff in the second half.
Austin Reaves admits Lakers lost focus after halftime despite win over Pelicans
Los Angeles jumped out to a 46-27 lead after the first quarter and were up by 20 at the break, seemingly in full control.
The message from JJ Redick’s staff at halftime was clear: stay aggressive and finish the job early. But that intensity did not carry over into the third quarter, as New Orleans fought back to make things more competitive than expected.
Regarding that, Reaves said to Spectrum SportsNet: “The second half was pretty below-par, but all that matters is we got the win. We’ll watch film and get back at it tomorrow.
“I think [aggression] is the main thing. Out of halftime, if you’re up 20 and you play hard for the first three to five minutes, you’ll give yourself an opportunity to rest in the fourth. I didn’t feel like we did that tonight.
“I feel like we kinda let off the gas. That’s all on the players. The coaching staff was encouraging us to get out and play the same way we did in the first half. We just didn’t do it, so we’ll clean that up.”
Despite taking it easy in the second half, the Lakers were fortunate the undermanned Pelicans could not capitalize.
Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves make NBA history
Even though Reaves and Luka Doncic share the court, the No. 15 has managed to carve out his own spotlight this season.
While Doncic’s numbers are always eye-catching, it has been Reaves’ steady play that has caught people off guard.
He continues to impress, stepping up when needed, and finding ways to make an impact even alongside one of the league’s biggest names. And together with the Slovenian guard, they have just achieved something rare.
Against the Pelicans, Doncic and Reaves achieved a historic feat, becoming only the fourth pair in the last 50 years to each score at least 30 points in three consecutive games.
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