Austin Reaves' Honest Admission After Lakers-Thunder Incident

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Feb 10, 2026 7:04 AM ET

Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves took his first loss since returning from an extended injury absence. The Lakers had won three in a row after Reaves returned to the lineup, but they came up short on Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Reaves came off the bench again, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting, two rebounds, seven assists, a steal and one three-pointer in 29 minutes of action. This was the most the 6-foot-5 shooting guard had played since returning from a 19-game spell on the sidelines.

Despite Reaves’ effort, however, the Lakers still lost to the defending champions, 119-110.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15)Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Reaves was involved in an incident during Monday’s loss. The Lakers star lost his patience late in the third quarter after a non-call during a drive to the basket. Reaves was adamant that he had been fouled and forcefully argued his case with referee Eric Dalen.

The game official felt that Reaves went overboard with his complaining, which resulted in a technical foul against the Lakers guard.

How is this not a foul? No wonder Reaves got a technical. pic.twitter.com/idJkUDFgAR
— Showtime Luka (@showtimeluka) February 10, 2026

Reaves spoke about the incident during his postgame interview. The 27-year-old admitted that the technical foul threw him off.

"I played pretty bad in the 2nd half,” he said, via Lakers Daily. “I think I got frustrated when I didn't get the foul call, got the tech, let that kind of get to me a little bit."

Reaves knows that he let his emotions get the better of him on Monday night. This was his first technical foul of the season.

The Thunder got some much-needed separation in the fourth quarter. OKC, which was playing without reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain), showed its mettle down the stretch. The Thunder outscored the Lakers in the final frame, 26-19, resulting in a road win at Crypto.com Arena for the champs.

Reaves and the Lakers dropped to 32-20 after Monday’s loss. They remain fifth in the Western Conference with a back-to-back scheduled for Tuesday night against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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