Often times in an NBA playoff series, it isn’t the star players, but an unsung hero or two who will emerge as the X factor and a major difference maker for the winning team.
Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers seems to fit that description. He was an intriguing undrafted rookie last season, but this season, he has emerged as the type of player people thought he could become.
He has evolved into a very good 3-point shooter, an adept ball-handler who can also serve as a secondary or relief facilitator and playmaker and someone who can get to the free throw line and knock down foul shots.
Against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, Reaves can help ensure victory for L.A. by taking care of these three things.
Continue to draw fouls
During the regular season, Reaves impressed many fans and observers by drawing contact, getting foul calls and finishing through contact.
He averaged 4.1 free throw attempts a game, which ranked fourth on the team and third among players who are still in the Purple and Gold right now.
But officiating changes come playoff time, and actions that are called fouls in the regular season may not result in a whistle anymore. Reaves, who will appear in his first postseason, will have to make the right adjustments and figure out how to bait defenders into making enough contact with him to continue to get the foul calls he got used to this season.
If he doesn’t, he will have to find a way to still hit shots when contact is made but no foul is called.
Get it done defensively
Reaves may not be a great defender, but he isn’t a bad one either. Per Cleaning The Glass, lineups that include him have a defensive rating of 113.0, which ranks in the 72nd percentile in the NBA.
But there is a feeling that smaller, quicker players give him issues on that end of the floor, as well as forwards who are bigger and stronger than him (he’s naturally a shooting guard who often plays small forward).
Against the Grizzlies, Reaves will likely be matched up a lot against Desmond Bane, who is arguably their second-best player and averaged 21.5 points per game on 47.9 percent overall shooting and 40.8 percent from 3-point range.
Bane is about 10 pounds heavier than Reaves, and Reaves will need to make sure the Memphis off-guard doesn’t go off and hurt the Lakers much.
Shoot well from 3-point range
It’s one thing to shoot 39.8 percent from 3-point range during the regular season, as Reaves did this year, but it’s another thing to shoot like that in the playoffs when the lights get brighter and the pressure gets tighter.
It is axiomatic in pro sports that players struggle in their first trip to the playoffs. But Reaves seems to have the grit and toughness to prevent that type of fate this spring.
The Lakers have improved their 3-point shooting since the All-Star break thanks to multiple midseason trades, but they’re still a bit shaky in that department. If Reaves continues to knock down triples at a regular rate, it will significantly increase L.A.’s chances of winning this series.
