Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers fell 116-113 Sunday afternoon in Game 4 of their first-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Five-time First-Team All-NBA member Luka Doncic did all he could by supplying his highest point total in this series with 38 points on 46.4% shooting.
Reaves has struggled in his four appearances during this first-round series; the formerly undrafted guard out of Oklahoma has failed to surpass his season averages of 20.2 points and 5.8 assists per game despite averaging four more minutes per game this series.
While Reaves hasn’t been the sole contributor to the Lakers’ lack of success thus far, the team is counting on his ability to be the third star that he’s been this season to Doncic and 21-time All-Star LeBron James.
Ahead of the elimination game, Reaves discussed what he felt was the problem for the Lakers and what they need to do to overcome the 3-1 deficit.
“We haven’t finished quarters the way we needed to,” said Reaves. “… There’s many things in the game that we can do better to help ourselves, give ourselves a better opportunity to win. And then the fourth quarter, it comes down to executing … you win and lose on the margins, and we just have done a good enough job to get those wins we needed.”
The Lakers have been competitive in nearly every game this series, however, it is the fourth quarters that have been glaringly bad. According to Khobi Price with the Los Angeles Daily News, through the first three quarters in the four games, Los Angeles has outscored Minnesota 337-329 in the twelve quarters combined. However, in just the four fourth quarters alone, the Timberwolves have outscored the Lakers 105-69.
Game five is set to tip off at 7:00 PM PST Wednesday night in Los Angeles, where the Lakers will have to win in order to avoid elimination in the first round in back-to-back seasons.
