That was an absurd game by Reaves, he was scoring at will, making defenders look silly. He’s not just that feel good story anymore, he belongs and he knows it.
He's so good , refs took 10 obvious pts away from him in 2 games ( 2 4pts play and Zubac illegal block)
BUT BUT he sucks in the playoffs. Oh really? Here's some stats from BILBJH at LG that suggest this recency bias from 2 less than HIM worthy games, pre-injury, and 3 post-injury games vs MN last year has been way overblown. "From Google AI (so don't blame me if this is wrong) Comparison with Austin Reaves Austin Reaves' career playoff field goal percentage of 45.5% is slightly above the typical historical playoff average for guards. Player/Average FG% Austin Reaves (Career Playoffs) 45.5% Average Point Guard (All-Time Playoffs) 42.8% Average Shooting Guard (All-Time Playoffs) 43.2% Kobe's career playoffs FG% is 44.8%. His career playoffs eFG% is 48.0% Reaves' career playoffs eFG% is 54.7% Dwyane Wade's career playoffs FG% is 47.4% Wade's career playoffs eFG% is 49.0% Tony Parker's career playoffs FG% is 46.1% Parker's career playoffs eFG% is 47.8% LeBron's career playoffs FG% is 49.6% LeBron's career playoffs eFG% is 53.7% Luka's career playoffs FG% is 46.1% Luka's career playoffs eFG% is 53.2% SGA's career playoffs FG% is 46.8% SGA's career playoffs eFG% is 50.9% Jayson Tatum's career playoffs FG% is 43.9% Tatum's career playoffs eFG% is 50.4% Jrue Holiday's career playoffs FG% is 43.2% Jrue's career playoffs FG% is 49.4% Kawhi's career playoffs FG% is 51.3% Kawhi's career playoffs eFG% is 57.0% Steph's career playoffs FG% is 45.4% Steph's career playoffs eFG% is 56.1% Jason Kidd's career playoffs FG% is 39.1% Kidd's career playoffs FG% is 45.5% The bolded part was AI, I looked up the rest. To be clear, I thought Reaves sucked in two key series that caused early playoffs exits so I get the doubt and frustration. I also understand he didn't have the defensive focus that a number one option gets. But I just quickly wrote out some numbers from some Lakers and recent champion players to show that Reaves' poor performance is still greatly exaggerated. Only Kawhi and Steph shot better of this group. Reaves needs to do better but the narrative that he's beyond redemption in the playoffs is absurd."