The time had come, the Lakers decided, to make a choice.
Since trading for D’Angelo Russell and playing him with Austin Reaves, the two guards largely alternated in the spotlight surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The touches, the shots, the responsibility — they usually always were split.
But gradually over the course of this season, that changed. Russell moved to the bench, Reaves becoming the primary ballhandler. And a trade with Brooklyn in December cemented it — the Lakers had cemented it.
Reaves was going to be their guy.
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“He’s in his process and he’s taking the opportunity and he’s running with it,” James said. “Literally running with it. And I love every moment that he’s given the opportunity to go out and showcase his talent with the best players in the world and he’s showing every night that he belongs. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
Friday’s game was hardly beautiful, but it was necessary.
In Russell’s first game back in Los Angeles since being dealt to the Nets, Reaves had a career-high 38 points to help drag the Lakers across the finish line to a 102-101 win.
Russell had a chance to win the game — after a string of Reaves misses in the final two minutes — but his final three-point attempt didn’t fall.
And while Reaves and James got hot in the fourth quarter, the game was hardly as easy as it could’ve been — and they knew it early.
James backed up past midcourt and away from the Lakers’ bench after he made a three-point shot to end the first quarter. He felt that something wasn’t totally right in the building, that the rhythm was off and that the energy was flat.
So he put his hands in the air and begged for cheers. The crowd, having just witnessed 12 minutes of basketball at its most mild, eventually obliged.
Nothing came easy for the Lakers (22-17) against a team fresh off a 59-point loss to the Clippers. And the crowd eventually got into it, but only when it became clear the Lakers actually might lose.
Lakers coach JJ Redick was upset with the effort, particularly on the defensive end.
“We weren’t very good tonight,” he said.
James and Reaves, though, scored 25 of the Lakers’ 30 fourth-quarter points.
“JJ wasn’t happy on the sideline. I’m sure y’all could guess because we weren’t playing well, so it was warranted,” Reaves said. “So, me and Bron had a conversation at center court. ‘Just figure out a way to win the game.’ We know it hasn’t been pretty. We know we’ve made a lot of mistakes, but a win in the win column doesn’t matter if it’s [by] one or 60. It’s a win. And that’s all that matters.”
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The Lakers again were without Dorian Finney-Smith, who remained away from the team because of the birth of his child. The team also learned shortly before game time that Davis wouldn’t play because of issues connected to an ongoing foot problem that’s kept him on the injury report for most of the last month. The Lakers listed him as “probable” with plantar fasciitis, and Davis went through his pregame workout before being downgraded to out.
It should’ve been no excuse.
Brooklyn was without its leading scorers, Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson, with Johnson expected to be one of the most sought-after players before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
The Lakers, in fact, have spoken with the Nets (14-28) about Johnson, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly. But the cost for the 6-foot-8 forward, who is averaging 19.6 points and shooting 42.8% from three, is thought to be two first-round picks — a steep price that could drop as the deadline gets closer.
The Lakers won’t need to make a trade before their next game to get some help. They should have Finney-Smith and Davis back Sunday when they play the Clippers for the first time in the Intuit Dome, the city rivalry moving to a new venue.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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