He even dunked on Jarren Jackson Jr., one of the top defenders in the league. He added another 12 points in the Lakers’ play-in victory before shooting the Grizzlies out of Game 1. Yet an aggressive performance against the Rockets started a stretch during which he scored in double figures in four of the Lakers’ last five regular-season games. He was a healthy scratch on March 26, James’ first game back after tearing a tendon in his foot, and Hachimura played limited minutes in the next two games. ![]() Hachimura’s ascent with the Lakers has been more sudden. “You dream about being on a stage like this. “It’s a lot of emotions,” Reaves said of his “I’m him” moment. ![]() He has emerged as one of the most efficient guards in the NBA, and in his playoff debut, Reaves made eight of 13 shots from the field while dishing out four assists without a turnover. I’ve been around the game long enough to know great basketball IQ players and I know the type of players that fit with my game and I knew Austin would be that right away.” “Then a couple weeks went by, I knew he was going to get a guaranteed contract at some point. “I knew from the first practice what we had when we grabbed him, that he wasn’t going to be a two-way player for long,” James said. James, a longtime believer in Reaves, said he wasn’t surprised to see the second-year guard perform well in his first playoff game. As the game progressed, he continued to make big shots, culminating with a perfect fourth quarter that included an on-the-money, behind-the-back dime to Hachimura for his fifth three of the day. Sunday, he settled the Lakers down by snapping their 0-for-five shooting start with a bucket. Since moving into the starting lineup late in the season, he averaged 18.3 points on 57.1% shooting. And that’s exactly what happened tonight.”Īt this point, “role player” might not fully characterize Reaves’ importance to the Lakers. “But you win playoff games with your role players. “I think the playoffs is all about, obviously, guys are keying in on the stars, me and Bron, trying to figure out how they can take us out the game,” Davis said. Yet down the stretch, the Lakers’ stars gave way to Reaves and Hachimura. James was also mostly effective, save for five turnovers, with 21 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. Initial X-rays were negative, but he was pessimistic about his availability Wednesday for Game 2.ĭavis had a monster defensive game Sunday, blocking seven shots and grabbing three steals. Morant writhed and screamed in pain before running directly off the court and back to the Memphis locker room. Davis slid in, took the charge and Morant landed roughly on his right hand, which was already padded from an injury he suffered on April 7 in his final game of the regular season. Midway through the fourth, Morant drove to the basket and skied toward the hoop.
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