OKLAHOMA CITY — If it’s any solace for Austin Reaves — and the somber look on his face as he sat at his locker late Tuesday night would seem to indicate that it definitely is not — this is what the Oklahoma City Thunder defense does to almost every elite scorer.
Even the healthy ones.
But this brutal combination of ill-timed circumstances, with the Los Angeles Lakers guard pushing his way back early from an oblique injury just in time to face the most ferocious collection of ballhawks in today’s game, is like something out of that prank show with Anthony Davis that keeps popping up during commercial breaks in these playoffs.
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There’s no punchline coming, though. Just a straight punch to the gut of whatever minuscule chance the Luka Dončić-less Lakers had to shock the basketball world in this Western Conference semifinal series.
“Yeah, he didn’t play well,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said succinctly of Reaves.
By the time the Thunder’s 108-90 win in Game 1 was over, the 27-year-old free-agent-to-be had missed 13 of 16 shots, including all five of his 3-pointers, finishing with eight points, six assists, five rebounds, four turnovers (of the Lakers’ 17) and a minus-10 rating that was too generous upon the eye test. He was bad, and he knew it. Worse than ever, by his standards.
According to Stathead.com, this was just the second time in his five seasons (including playoffs) that Reaves scored eight points or fewer while playing at least 36 minutes. It was also just the second time he has converted three or fewer field goals while attempting at least 16. Yet, in stark contrast to those outliers, the stakes and context are dramatically different for Reaves and the Lakers right now.
The Thunder don’t care that he’s still getting his legs under him after all that time away, with his first two games back after nearly a month away coming in the first round against the Houston Rockets (and the relentless Amen Thompson). They don’t care that Reaves’ lack of wind, which compelled him to break rotation patterns and sub out early at times in the Lakers’ first-round series, isn’t at the level necessary to withstand the punishment of the postseason.
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They don’t care that he took a shot to the ribs that left him rolling on the hardwood in the first half, or that his left elbow, which he kept tugging at down the stretch, was bothering him in the second half. They don’t care that, as two rival scouts pointed out during the game, he’s struggling to create separation from defenders and doesn’t have the pop that we’re accustomed to seeing.
And they certainly don’t care that the absence of Dončić, who remains out with the Grade 2 hamstring injury he suffered on April 2, means these Lakers need to play near-perfect to have even a puncher’s chance of taking a game in this one-sided matchup.
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The Thunder have every right to love the fact that the Lakers are wounded foes. That should lessen the workload as they forge ahead with their title defense. There’s blood in the water, with perimeter hounds like Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell, Alex Caruso and Lu Dort attacking Reaves while big men Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein clog the paint.
“Yeah, I mean the easy (solution) is to make more shots,” Reaves said. “I got to my spots multiple times and just missed a couple of easy shots. But for the most part, you’ve got to limit the turnovers. They pressure the ball really well. You’ve just got to give us an opportunity to get a shot.”
It sounds so simple, but it is anything but.
For all the greatness of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the likely back-to-back MVP who had a rare off night, it’s the Thunder’s defense that defines them.
As Redick and LeBron James were quick to point out, this OKC defense has been atop the league’s ratings for the past two seasons. They held the Lakers to their lowest point total since April 7, when the Thunder downed them 123-87. The Lakers averaged 116.3 points per game in the regular season (11th in the NBA).
Reaves, who has been the victim of this defense many times before, knows all too well how the Thunder tend to stifle and suffocate. Just take a look at the evidence from his past two seasons.
Whenever he plays the Thunder, his shooting wanes, turnovers spike and production dips. The problematic pattern is undeniable.
- Reaves this season (51 games): 23.3 points (49 percent shooting overall; 36 percent from 3), 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, three turnovers
- Reaves vs. OKC this season (three games): 14.7 points (42.9 percent overall; 23.1 percent from 3), 3.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 4.7 turnovers
- Reaves last season (73 games): 20.2 points (46 percent overall; 37.7 percent from 3), 4.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.4 turnovers
- Reaves vs. OKC last season (three games): 18.3 points (42.1 percent overall, 37.5 percent from 3), four rebounds, 3.7 assists, four turnovers
Looking at the bigger picture, the compromised Lakers landscape makes it virtually impossible to apply this data to his looming free agency. The Lakers love Reaves and everything that he brings, and all signs point to them making it a major priority to bring him back. The market, and the question of whether another team might come his way with max money, will determine how that unfolds.
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This isn’t about that, though. This, as James so adamantly declared, is about the Lakers trying to survive a merciless opponent that made them so miserable in the opener, in large part, because they were undermanned.
“Where are the offensive issues coming from?” James said while repeating a reporter’s question. “The guy (Dončić) who averaged 37 a game (being gone).”
Dončić averaged a league-leading 33.5 points per game, but still …
“There’s the issues right there,” James, who had 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting, six assists and four rebounds, continued. “You’re playing against the number one defensive team in the NBA, as far as the ratings and everything. And when you play against great defenses, you have to have guys that can attract multiple defenders on the floor at all times.”
The Lakers have that in Dončić … and Reaves … and James, just not all together right now, when it matters most. That alone, combined with the reality that Reaves simply isn’t himself just yet, should tell you where this one-sided series is heading.
— Dan Woike contributed to this report.