Lakers News: Austin Reaves Finds This Element Of Game 3 Loss "Super Frustrating"

He enjoyed a good individual game, at least.

Apr 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) shoots. / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

After starting the 2023-24 NBA season with high hopes thanks to a surprise run to the Western Conference Finals last spring, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves on the brink of going fishing in just the first round. The one caveat: the team that leads them 3-0 in their current first round series is also the one that swept them out of the Western Conference Finals last year en route to a title, the Denver Nuggets.

LA's 112-105 Game 3 loss to the Nuggets Thursday was highlighted by the club's struggles to get much cooking from a scoring perspective. The club went just 5-of-27 from beyond the arc, for a paltry 18.5% conversion rate. Denver actually shot worse, going 5-of-28 from deep (17.9%), but the jumbo-sized Nuggets more than made up for that with some exquisite interior play and midrange takes.

A team that really had seen itself firing on all cylinders since All-Star weekend, Los Angeles suddenly finds itself averaging a scant 102.3 points across its three contests in the series so far.

Per Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum News, starting shooting guard Austin Reaves reflected on the club's offensive issues of late.

“It’s super frustrating,” Reaves said. “After the trade deadline, even a little before that, our offense was clicking on all cylinders… Obviously, our offense wasn’t very good tonight.”

He enjoyed a good individual game, at least. Reaves was one of just three Lakers to score in double digits (along with All-Stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James), notching 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the floor (2-of-5 from distance) and 4-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe.

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