Austin Reaves says he’s ‘frustrated’ with performance against Nuggets in playoffs

Austin Reaves was just as frustrated as fans with his up-and-down performance during the Lakers’ first round series. 

The Lakers lost to the Nuggets in five games, ending their playoff run. While LeBron James and Anthony Davis were spectacular throughout the series, the rest of the lineup was much less consistent.

One of those hot and cold players was Austin Reaves and he acknowledged it during his exit interview on Monday.

“Personally, in this moment, I’m frustrated with myself not really playing well the first couple games and even into that Game 3,” Reaves said. “I wasn’t good enough. I hold myself to a high standard because I believe in myself. Those first couple games, I didn’t do what I needed to do to help us win one of those two or two of those three. I’ll think about that all summer and train to be better and try to come back and be better next year.”

No lies were detected in Reaves’ comments on his poor play early on during the Nuggets series. He scored 13 points in Game 1 and nine points in Game 2, numbers well below his 15.9 points per game this season.

To Reaves’ credit, he eventually found his footing, particularly late in Game 3 and beyond. He was able to be a scoring threat, play well on the ball and did a respectable job defending Jamal Murray.

Unfortunately for Los Angeles, their margin for error against Denver was razor-thin and they couldn’t afford a pair of poor games from him and still win.

There will be an opportunity to take a deeper look at Reaves’ season later, but it was a net positive year for his growth and development. It’s only his third season in the NBA and he’s starting in big games and playing well overall, even if there were a couple of disappointing moments.

It’s a good sign that when Reaves plays below his standard, he acknowledges it, takes ownership of it and voices that opinion publicly.

It’s not just talk with Reaves, hes’ gotten better every season and he will most definitely improve during the offseason.

There were many key takeaways from this Nuggets series regarding how far the Lakers have to go to get back to true title contention, but one positive is Reaves can play well in some of the most high-pressure games.

Now, he just needs to develop to the point where he can reach the level needed to win those games night in and night out.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.