Austin Reaves did not slow down after a strong finish to the regular season. The 24-year-old shooting guard scored 23 points in his playoff debut against the Grizzlies, helping the Lakers win (128-112).
LeBron James said after the game that he knew that Reaves would fit well with his game right from the first practice.
“It’s not surprising to me,” the four-time NBA champion said about Reaves’ playoff debut. “I knew from the first practice that he wasn’t going to be a two-way player for long. That a couple of weeks went by I knew he was going to get a guaranteed contract at some point.
“I’ve been around the game long enough to great basketball IQ players. know the type of players that fit with my game and I knew Austin would be that right away.
“I got to give a lot of credit to coach [Frank] Vogel on just throwing him into the fire and letting him learn on the fly and allowing him to make mistakes and just allowing him to play through a lot of stuff.
“But I knew the type of player that we were able to get in Austin. So, it’s not surprising what he was doing tonight. Maybe to some of you guys who don’t want him as much or down cover him as much, but for me it’s not. I’m extremely happy for him and I want him to do it again.”
