The Los Angeles Lakers, as a team, had an awful shooting night in Game 2 against the Nuggets, as their inability to knock down shots from deep played a big role in allowing Denver to come back and take a 2-0 series lead on Thursday night.
As a team, the Lakers were 8-of-30 from three-point range, but were only that successful from long range thanks to Austin Reaves. The second-year guard has been L.A.’s most reliable three-point shooter in these playoffs and continued that with a 5-of-9 shooting night in Denver, making him the only Laker with more than one make on the night. Reaves finished the night with 22 points, tied with LeBron James for the team-high in scoring — Jamal Murray, on the other side, scored 22 in the fourth quarter to lead Denver to the win.
Given he was tied for the team lead in scoring on the night, Reaves was asked to go to the podium after the game to talk about the loss and what happened. Reaves did so after snagging a quick shower, but hadn’t gotten his hair fully dried which meant he rolled up to take questions looking, well, like this.
— 3030 (@jose3030) May 19, 2023
Reaves looking like he was from a mid-2000s rock band gave NBA Twitter enough fodder to have some fun late into the night.
https://t.co/3rL8noMhDu pic.twitter.com/rmbim0g8va
— le ssera-him (@geraldisreal_) May 19, 2023
reporter: “austin, what do you need to work on for game 3?”
austin reaves: “all the small things” pic.twitter.com/4V1TfrRdbg
— mike taddow (@MikeTaddow) May 19, 2023
Panic! At The Crypto https://t.co/mANRjsUVXq
— David Naylor (@ProfCedar) May 19, 2023
Ballout Boy https://t.co/rpbn1EtvX1
— Browns are Normal And Good (@ericj_d) May 19, 2023
🎶 I chimed in with a haven’t you people ever heard of
GRABBING A GOD DAMN BOARD 🎶 https://t.co/Tsx7ypU1Mj
— (redacted) (@squish41) May 19, 2023
Plain White Threes https://t.co/y3CL9Su99Y
— IWas_VelvetJones (@IVelvetjones) May 19, 2023
Plain White Threes https://t.co/y3CL9Su99Y
— IWas_VelvetJones (@IVelvetjones) May 19, 2023
I TRIED SO HARD/ I SHOT THE BALL
BUT IN THE END/ IT DOESN’T EVEN MATTER https://t.co/amMr4gbOWC— dij (@DijahSB) May 19, 2023
https://twitter.com/ImpatienTourist/status/1659418693162397700
“Austin, is Game 3 ‘Must Win?’”
“No, it’s much better to face these games with a sense of poise and rationality.” https://t.co/JdtLAS2cJ4
— JC’s Pops (@JDub9911) May 19, 2023
Ball Out Boy https://t.co/XfldItDS9P
— Cory Smith (@RCorySmith) May 19, 2023
blink 1 for 82 https://t.co/aP95Ob0cWC
— charles (@lightbeeerpapi) May 19, 2023
Reliant J https://t.co/earanMJ6xa
— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 19, 2023
There were also some who went a different route from the many band references to note he looked like Todd from Wedding Crashers.
https://t.co/HCXZIaIbc9 pic.twitter.com/MLho0avNeB
— Jared Wade (@Jared_Wade) May 19, 2023
https://twitter.com/PintOfJack/status/1659415355553456128