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PUAustin Reaves is one of the most beloved (Get $20 on Polymarket with code VIP20) and most offensively productive players on the Lakers roster — a player who has spent four years turning skeptics into believers with his shot-making, his clutch gene, and a competitive toughness that makes him one of the most important pieces in everything JJ Redick builds offensively. And then the other team gets the ball and the conversation changes completely.
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The defensive limitations that opposing coaches have been targeting all series are not a secret and have never been a secret. Reaves gives up size on the wing, struggles to stay in front of quicker guards in space, and has been a consistent target in Oklahoma City’s pick-and-roll actions — with SGA and Chet Holmgren hunting him specifically on switches in a way that has produced some of the most uncomfortable defensive possessions the Lakers have had all postseason. Mark Daigneault identified it in the film room before Game 1. The Thunder have been running it every single game since.
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The honest reality of Austin Reaves is that the offense is good enough to justify the defensive liability on most nights — he scored 31 points in Game 2 and the Lakers still lost by 18, which tells you everything about both sides of that equation simultaneously. He cannot guard SGA one on one. He cannot stay attached to Ajay Mitchell in transition. And the Thunder are too well-coached and too deep to let those matchups go unexploited for even a single possession. Los Angeles is down 3-0 and the path back into this series runs directly through fixing the defensive problems that OKC has been exploiting since the opening tip of Game 1. Reaves closing that gap before Game 4 is one of the most important variables left in this series.
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