Austin Reaves Takes Blame for Lakers' Loss to Wolves, 'Point the Finger at Me'
Austin Reaves placed the blame on himself Wednesday night for the Los Angeles Lakers' first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Following the Lakers' season-ending, 103-96 loss to the T-Wolves in Game 5 on Wednesday, Reaves told reporters that he didn't do enough to elevate L.A. during the postseason, saying:
"I didn't have the series that I wanted to have. You can point the finger at me. I wasn't good enough to help us be successful. I wish I could've done more. I didn't. I struggled. You live and you learn, and I guarantee that I'll get back to work this offseason and be better."
Reaves' playoff production paled in comparison to what he did during the regular season, as he averaged 16.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.0 three-pointers made per game, while shooting just 41.1 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from beyond the arc.
In 73 regular-season games, Reaves averaged career highs across the board with 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 three-pointers made and 1.1 steals per contest.
Perhaps most importantly, Reaves was far more efficient during the regular season than he was in the playoffs, shooting 46.0 percent from the floor and 37.7 percent from deep.
Although LeBron James and Luka Dončić were viewed as the go-to guys who needed to largely carry the Lakers come playoff time, Reaves was one of three players on the roster who averaged over 20 points per game this season, so his contributions were needed as well.
Dončić and James largely did their part during the series against Minnesota with Dončić averaging 30.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, and LeBron putting up 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per contest.
Reaves didn't pull his weight to the same degree he did during the regular season, but he was far from the Lakers' only issue against the Timberwolves.
Aside from Dončić, James, Reaves and Rui Hachimura (14.8 points per game), no other Lakers player averaged more than 6.2 points per contest during the series.
A lack of quality depth came back to haunt L.A., which suggests general manager Rob Pelinka may be hard at work during the offseason when it comes to adding role players around the core.
