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Dave McMenamin
NEW YORK — Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves returned to the lineup in Tuesday night’s 125-109 win against the Brooklyn Nets and had an instant impact.
Reaves, sidelined the past five weeks because of a strained left calf, came off the bench to score 15 points on 3-for-9 shooting with four rebounds and two steals. He was on a minutes restriction, according to coach JJ Redick, with his playing time capped at 21 minutes — well below his 35.3-minute average this season.
«Sitting on the bench sucks,» Reaves said. «I think all I did for the month-and-a-half was yell at the refs. It’s no fun. It’s better to yell at them on the court. But it’s good to be back out there and run around, feel the energy and play the game I love.»
Reaves checked in with 1:30 left in the opening quarter and managed to get to the free throw line in his first shift, going 2-for-2 on his way to an 8-for-10 effort.
«I think we’ve missed him in every facet,» Redick said before the game. «Both as an on-ball player, off-ball player, a connector, leadership on the court, competitive spirit — competitive spirit defensively. So, he’s an All-Star-level player, and of course, you’re going to miss him in a number of ways.»
Reaves, 27, was enjoying a career season before tweaking his left calf Dec. 10 in a 132-119 loss to the San Antonio Spurs and then suffering a separate strain of the calf two weeks later in a 119-96 loss to the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day. Before the injury, Reaves was averaging 26.6 points on 50.7% shooting from the field, with 6.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals.
The Lakers went 10-9 without Reaves since the Rockets game.
His presence in Brooklyn helped the Lakers finish their eight-game Grammy’s trip with a 5-3 record.
«It was just a boost for all us, especially at the end of a road trip, to get a guy like that back,» said LeBron James, who led L.A. with 25 points against the Nets. «Obviously his rhythm is a little off, but s—, he still made an impact and I’m just happy to have him back.»
Reaves, who nearly returned Sunday against the New York Knicks, explained why he waited for Brooklyn.
«I wanted to make sure I was 100% good,» he said. «Really wanted to play the other night against the Knicks. Love playing there. Wish I could have been able to get out there and help the team, but just didn’t feel right and woke up this morning and felt really good and gave it the go right before the game and had fun.»
