Austin Reaves is ready for the regular season.
The Los Angeles Lakers guard was excellent during Sunday’s 126-116 win over the Golden State Warriors in preseason action, scoring 21 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
The only concern was Reaves leaving in the third quarter with some sort of lower-body injury, though it remains to be seen how serious it is.
Center Deandre Ayton added 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block for the Lakers, while Brandin Podziemski topped the Warriors with 23 points and eight assists.
It was a more efficient outing from Bronny James, albeit mostly in the fourth quarter, as he finished with seven points while shooting 5-of-5 on free throws. He only attempted two shots from the field in 15 minutes.
But Reaves was the story, with fans enjoying his efficient (7-of-10 from the field in 23 minutes) performance:
The Lakers are going to need this version of Reaves early on, with LeBron James set to miss the start of the regular season due to sciatica.
That means players like Reaves, Ayton and Rui Hachimura will need to play a more prominent role around superstar Luka Dončić.
As for the younger James, fans generally view the preseason as rather meaningless, and on the macro level that’s generally true. It’s the chance for teammates to get more experience playing together after roster changes in the offseason, coaches to install new schemes and plays, etc., but it isn’t a great gauge for how the upcoming season will go.
But on the individual level, it’s a chance for players at the end of the bench to prove that they perhaps they deserve a bigger role. Bronny was given 24 minutes in the team’s first preseason game and 23 minutes in the second, turning those two appearances into 13 points on just 3-of-18 shooting from the field alongside eight rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block.
He played a smaller role on Sunday and was more efficient, mostly because he got to the charity stripe, but at this point it’s hard to imagine him having any sort of role for the Lakers outside of garbage-time minutes in blowouts.