In the opening weeks and months of the 2023-24 season, Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves’ play was up and down. He often struggled with his shooting, particularly his outside shooting, and he didn’t quite look like the standout he was last season.
There were whispers that perhaps he was a bit worn down after spending much of last summer with Team USA in the FIBA World Cup. Some even wondered if perhaps what he did last season was something of a fluke and he was merely regressing to his mean.
But in the last 14 games, Reaves has stepped up. During that stretch, he averaged 18.1 points and 6.7 assists a game while shooting 51.1% from the field and 41.8% from 3-point range. That is the type of efficiency he maintained throughout the 2022-23 campaign.
It’s no coincidence that L.A. won nine of those 14 contests and was third in points per game, second in offensive rating, fourth in assists and (believe it or not) fifth in 3-point shooting accuracy during that stretch.
While Reaves’ defense is still a work in progress, he has even shown signs of improving on that end of the floor. Watch him in action during Wednesday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Austin Reaves defense vs Clippers🔒🔒🔒
there was a reason why Lakers refused to put him in trade talks! pic.twitter.com/2qx5tpBl2e
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) February 29, 2024
This is the version of Reaves the Lakers need if they are to replicate last year’s late-season run.
