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Lebron James Reveals the Real Reason Behind Austin Reaves? Shooting Struggles, Moments After Stunning the Clippers With Highlight Play

ByTsuktibenla T Jamir

Nov 2, 2023 | 4:12 PM EDT

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The Lakers clinched a 130-125 victory against the Clippers on Thursday night, tipping towards 3 wins and 2 losses for them so far in the season. James Harden, who had recently been traded from the Sixers to the Clippers, watched from the bench as his new teammates took on the Lakers.

LeBron James, 38, carried the team with a stellar performance, emerging as the star of the game with the highest points of 35. However, his 25-year-old teammate Austin Reaves was struggling to make buckets. In fact, Austin has been struggling to get in the buckets ever since the start of the season. But Bron understands the reason for this and knows that Austin has been contributing in his own ways.

Austin was with Team USA the entire summer

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LeBron understands that Austin has just come back from representing Team USA in the recently concluded FIBA tournament. As per him, it will take some time for him to bounce back from this fatigue and get into the groove.

LeBron says this in the post-game interview: “I mean what I’ve seen is, uh someone that had a long playoff run and then played a lot of basketball in the summer, you know?“

He does not doubt Austin’s abilities in terms of the competitiveness and talent he brings to the team.

Austin managed to drop only 15 points across 38 minutes in the game against the Clippers. But this doesn’t bother Bron who says, “We can care less if he’s not making shots, you know. Cos he does so many other things out on the floor as well. I mean even tonight he didn’t shoot like he would like to shoot, um didn’t make any of his threes that he’s accustomed to making but still chipped in with, uh with eight boards and seven assists you know, and timely shots down the stretch.”

To Bron, Austin is still a big-time player who has a lot more to offer than just the shots. In fact, what makes him a good player is that he does not need to make shots to be effective because of all the other ways in which he contributes to the team in terms of assists, steals, and ball-maneuvering.

Austin rose to the occasion

LeBron stood out as the all-around performer in the game. Austin, who had also struggled in the previous games, seemed to cast a similar shadow in the early minutes of the game.

However, he made a comeback by showing some glimmers of hope by the third quarter, in the crucial moments for the team. Then, in the five-minute OT, he picked up his rhythm and scored 7 of the 15 points he made in the game.

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Apart from this, Austin was able to get 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals, exactly proving LeBron’s points that he doesn’t need to be scoring to contribute to the team as he is already doing it in other ways.

Do you think there is more to Austin Reaves than what he has shown these past games? Let us know.

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