Who is Austin Reaves? Lakers guard has quite a game in playoff debut vs. Grizzlies
Playing in his first career playoff game, Los Angeles Lakers starting guard Austin Reaves had himself a game.
Reaves scored 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including 3-for-5 on 3-pointers, and was instrumental down the stretch in No. 7 Los Angeles’ 128-112 victory over No. 2 Memphis in Game 1 of the Western Conference series.
Reaves scored nine consecutive Lakers points during a two-minute stretch of the fourth quarter that increased a 111-109 Lakers lead to 120-112.
Reaves had 16 points in the second half, part of the Lakers’ 69-point offensive outburst in the final two quarters.
“You dream about being on a stage like this with the best players in the world," Reaves said. "I got hot late and had fun."
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The second-year guard started 22 of 64 games during the regular season but started the final 10 games of the regular season, used in a starting lineup with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Jared Vanderbilt.
Where is Austin Reaves from?
Reaves was born in Newark, Arkansas (population: approximately 1,200) and attended Cedar Ridge High in Newark. He scored 73 points in a high school game and averaged 32 points, 8.8 rebounds and five assists in his senior season, lifting Cedar Ridge to the Class 3A state title. He put up 43.3 points per game in the final four games of the state tournament in 2016.
His parents, Nicole and Brian, played college basketball at Arkansas State, and his brother, Spencer, played small-college basketball.
Where did Austin Reaves go to college?
He started at Wichita State for his freshman and sophomore seasons but averaged just 6.1 points over two seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
He transferred to Oklahoma, redshirted a season and played his final two seasons for the Sooners. In his junior season, he scored a career-high 41 points against TCU and averaged 18.3 points in his senior season, developing into a pro prospect.
How did he end up with the Lakers?
He wasn't selected in the 2021 NBA draft and signed a two-way contract with the Lakers that August, before training camp of the 2021-22 season.
Over the course of his rookie season, he proved he was an NBA player and more important, he earned the trust of Lakers star James.
This season, Reaves averaged 13 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists and shot 52.9% from the field and 39.8% on 3-pointers. He improved as the season progressed, and in the 23 games after the All-Star break until the regular season ended, he averaged 17.6 points on 57.8% shooting from the field and 44.3% on 3-pointers.
The Lakers needed multiple contributors to win Sunday’s game, and Reaves’ was as big as any of his teammates.
“I knew from the first practice we had when we grabbed him he wasn’t going to be a two-way player for long,” James said. “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.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lakers' Austin Reaves has big game vs. Grizzlies in playoff debut
