Austin Reaves Gets Honest About Denver Nuggets Sweep

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves opened up about the Western Conference Finals

The Los Angeles Lakers made an incredible run to the 2023 Western Conference Finals after a very slow start to the season. While they defied the odds just making it that far, the Lakers understand a Western Conference Finals appearance was not the goal. Swept by the Denver Nuggets, who went on to win the title, LA was sent home after getting through the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors.

During a recent episode of Showtime Basketball's All The Smoke podcast, Lakers guard Austin Reaves spoke about this sweep, and how tough it was knowing his team had a chance to win all of those games.

"It obviously sucked," Reaves said. "If you look back, we really had an opportunity to win every game. Game 1 was up in the air, because they were up like 20, and we made a run with like five minutes left. I actually had an opportunity. [Games] 2, 3, and 4 were very winnable. One thing goes your way here or there, and we could be celebrating. But that's now how it goes. You got two guys like Jokic and Murray, and everybody else is making shots, they're basically unguardable."

That last point from Reaves is something the entire NBA experienced last season. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are already tough to stop, but Denver becomes truly unbeatable when the others get going as well.

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