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Austin Reaves endures historically poor playoff shooting game in Lakers' loss
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives around Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace in the first half during Game 1 of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Austin Reaves endures historically poor playoff shooting game in Lakers' loss

Without a co-star to rely on, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 108-90 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first game of their second-round series. 

However, unlike most of the first round, James did have one on the court with him, just one who could never get going. 

Austin Reaves sunk only three shots all game long 

Unable to provide James and his team what they needed, Austin Reaves only put up eight points in the game. Reaves' eight-point output also came off a historically poor shooting night. 

Reaves, a 49.0% shooter from the regular season, connected on only 3-of-16 shots from the field and went 0-of-5 from three. His 18.8% shooting clip became the single lowest of any Laker in a playoff game in the last 35 years (minimum 15 field-goal attempts). 

He did help out with six rebounds and five assists, but he was a -10 overall.

Austin Reaves has yet to return to his regular-season form in the playoffs 

Of the three playoff games Reaves has played, he's now shot 25% or worse in two of them — his only higher performance came when he hit 7-of-14 shots for 15 points in the Lakers' series-clinching win in Houston against the Rockets.  

With Luka Doncic still out of action, James, who scored 27 with four boards and six assists in 36 minutes, will need to get way more from Reaves in order for Los Angeles to have a chance at even making a series against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder competitive at all. 

Reaves will now have one day off to try to find his shooting stroke, with the second game of the series tipping off at 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday night. 

Mike J. Asti

Mike Asti is an experienced media personality and journalist with a vast resume and skillset, most notably from time with TribLIVE Radio and WPXI-TV. Asti now serves as the Managing Editor of WV Sports Now, where he leads the coverage of WVU sports. He has also covered the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and other teams within the Pittsburgh market

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