The Thunder came away with a 108-90 victory in Game 1 over the Lakers. It took a little longer than anticipated, but the reigning NBA champions turned this into another boring victory. What makes this even more impressive is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked human with 18 points and seven turnovers.
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None of that mattered. The Thunder clamped down on the Lakers’ offense. While LeBron James had a retro outing with 27 points and six assists, Austin Reaves couldn’t make up for the absence of Luka Doncic to make things interesting down the stretch.
Reaves scored a forgettable eight points on 3-of-16 shooting and six assists. It added to their recent trend of not showing up against OKC’s league-best defense. Over the past two seasons, he has averaged an ugly 16.5 points on 42.5% shooting and 3.7 assists in six regular-season matchups against the Thunder. Very far from his usual production of 20 points.
You can probably put some of the blame on Reave’s health. He missed a month with an oblique strain that, ironically, he suffered in OKC’s April 2 win over the Lakers. He returned in Games 5 and 6 in Los Angeles against the Houston Rockets, but it’s obvious he’s still working toward a comeback.
There were a couple of times Reaves grimaced at his side because he fought for a screen. He didn’t have the burst to get past any of the Thunder’s best perimeter defenders. Despite battling a serious muscle injury, the 27-year-old refuses to use that as an excuse.
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“I mean, nobody cares about that,” Reaves said. “I have to go out and play better.”
It will take a David-style performance for the Lakers to beat the Thunder, let alone make this Round 2 series interesting. One of his few ways to achieve this is for Reaves to help James. Not only would the wins speak for themselves, but they will also give Doncic more time to return to this Round 2 matchup.
Until now, that has not been the case. If the Thunder continue to make Reaves look like an undrafted rookie, then they should make quick work of the Lakers. Game 1 showed you that, as they cruised to a double-digit win despite a poor outing from Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams being sidelined.
“I mean, obviously the easy thing is to make more shots,” Reaves said. “I got to my spots a few times and missed a couple of easy shots. But for the most part, you have to limit the turnovers. They pressure the ball really well, they just have to give us a chance to shoot on goal on every possession.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: OKC Thunder continue blocking Austin Reaves in Game 1 win over Lakers