Los Angeles Lakers fan favorite Austin Reaves had a frightening fall during Friday’s NBA Cup game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Late in the second quarter of the contest, Reaves was driving to the basket when he got fouled by OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Reaves was airborne when he got clipped by Gilgeous-Alexander, and Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein also made contact with Reaves in the air, causing him to land directly on his back and writhe around on the ground in pain.
Austin Reaves takes a very nasty fall attacking the rim pic.twitter.com/9sUBLJJPuL
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) November 30, 2024
Reaves remained in the game to shoot his free throws and kept playing for another minute after that, including shooting (and missing) a three-pointer. But he then left the contest to head to the locker room and did not return before the end of the half.
The 26-year-old Reaves is known for the high rate of fouls that he is able to draw, which has helped him average a career-high 17.1 points per game this year. But that also results in Reaves taking a lot of punishment, and Friday’s scary fall was another example of that.
