Austin Reaves Lakers turnovers and second-star expectations, Digi Mart USA News: Austin Reaves had 21 points, five assists and four rebounds against the Warriors, but his eight turnovers erased those solid numbers as the Lakers watched a 25-point lead disappear. Afterward, Reaves took full responsibility for the loss.
Two former NBA players have since turned that night into a broader question about the Lakers’ second star and what he must fix going forward. Speaking on Gil’s Arena, Danny Green said Reaves should be expected to deliver more next to Luka Doncic.
“When you got killers and closers like Luka and Austin, who’s supposed to be,” Green said. “Luka has been that guy.
Austin’s kind of been struggling. He’s really not.
Struggling or being himself?”
Green pointed to Reaves’ hot start last season as evidence of what he can do. “Well, last year he started out.
He was averaging 28,” he said. DeMarcus Cousins cut that off.
“We ain’t talking about last year,” Cousins said. “We had, oh, man.
We talking about fresh start.”
Cousins agreed on what the central problem is. Green said the numbers would be “not bad” without the turnovers, and Cousins replied, “That’s my problem.” Green finished the thought.
“The turnovers really was hurting him,” he said. “But I think he could be a little more efficient.”
The discussion comes at an important point in Reaves’ career. After LeBron James left in free agency, the Lakers made Reaves the No. 2 option behind Doncic and gave him a major new contract.
That raised expectations on a player who spent years as a complementary scorer.
The turnover figures support Cousins and Green on one point. Reaves is averaging 4.8 turnovers per game, up from a career-worst 3.0 last season, while scoring 23.5 points on strong shooting percentages.
That is a notable cost for a player who runs a large share of the offense. No other Lakers starter handles the ball as much as Doncic and Reaves, so mistakes by either of them carry greater risk.
The Warriors game showed that clearly, as the lead turned into a loss.
Where the pair have a point is on the long view. A second star on a championship team is judged against a high bar, and Green said 23 points with a high turnover rate does not clear it unless the defense is elite.
In his view, Reaves needs to return to the efficient 27 or 28 points he sometimes posted last season.
Cousins and Green did not say Reaves is a bad player. They said that for the Lakers to maintain a contender’s profile, the numbers must improve in the specific area Reaves himself has pointed to.
The segment ended on a warning: you cannot average five turnovers a game as a second option, and “if this is your second option, I’m scared.”
If Reaves makes that adjustment, the criticism is likely to fade quickly. If not, the team’s depth behind Doncic will be tested in the spring.
