Austin Reaves knows how to choose his battles on the court.
The Los Angeles Lakers guard knew better than to get in the way of New Orleans Pelicans hulking forward Zion Williamson in Monday’s game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif.
Speaking about it after the Lakers’ 110-101 win, Reaves explained his mindset.
“Don’t be scared to get out of the way. I was terrified,” Reaves said, via Spectrum SportsNet. “There was no way in hell I was taking a charge. He was running too fast. I just kind of slid out the way let him have a layup.”
That approach ultimately did not affect the outcome of the game in favor of Los Angeles.
Williamson scored 24 points on 10/18 shooting to lead New Orleans, but the Lakers still came out on top, thanks in part to Reaves’ 15 points, albeit on a salty 4/15 shooting. Luka Doncic paced Los Angeles with 27 points, while LeBron James added 21.
Now on a three-game winning streak, Reaves and the Lakers can keep it going and improve their 37-24 record on Thursday, when they show up at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., to face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
