NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: LAKERS vs WARRIORS

May 10, 2023

Austin Reaves

Los Angeles Lakers

Game 5: Postgame

Warriors 121, Lakers 106

Q. Austin, Darvin said there wasn't much to report about AD at this point. But he said he seemed to be doing better. What's your level of concern for a teammate taking a blow like that?

AUSTIN REAVES: Obviously you never want to see a teammate get hit, but like Darvin said, seeing him in the locker room, and he's doing better.

Q. Obviously he's key to everything that you guys do, this game and then leading into next game, what are the things you have to do as a team going back to Game 6?

AUSTIN REAVES: We'll go back and watch film. Obviously they're the defending champs for a reason. They come out, and I think start of the first quarter and the third quarter they just played harder than us. That was the main thing. But like I said, we'll go watch film tomorrow and get better and lock it in for Game 6.

Q. Austin, what have you guys learned throughout these Playoffs so far about processing a loss and then coming in fresh for the next game?

AUSTIN REAVES: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like every other loss. You never want to have two in a row. Like I said, they're the defending champions for a reason. They're a good team. They're never going to just fold and give you what you want. But there's a lot of things that we need to do better, and like I said, we'll go watch film and figure those things out, and then at the least we're going to come out with a lot more firepower, a lot more energy and see what we have.

Q. Austin, in the first quarter of Game 4, it seemed like most of this until AD got the shot to the head, they were able to pull him away from the rim and keep him more on the perimeter. How were they able to do that, and how can you guys counter that?

AUSTIN REAVES: Like I've said a couple times, it's a chess piece at this point, like a chess match. They've got a really good coach, we've got a really good coach. They're going back and forth with their schemes and stuff like that.

I don't know the answer to that. I haven't watched the game yet. But anytime we can have AD on the back line of defense it's a lot better for us than him being on the perimeter just because he can alter so many shots. But the fix for that, I don't know yet. But I'm sure the coaching staff and everybody on the team is looking for ways for us to be better.

Q. Darvin said he felt like you guys played as physically as you guys normally do, just didn't (inaudible)?

AUSTIN REAVES: I have no idea. That's not for me to say. Everybody is human. You can come in here, say the officiating, this, that and the other, but at the end of the day, we're players. We're expected to make shots, but we miss shots. They're expected to get every call right, but that's not the nature of life. Nobody is perfect. You can't even sit up here and blame them for anything.

Yeah, I don't know the answer to that.

Q. Austin, is there anything from Game 6 from the series against Memphis that can help you guys in this Game 6 coming up?

AUSTIN REAVES: Yeah, for sure. This series we played basically the same as the last Memphis series as far as game by game, win by win, loss by loss. You can look back at that, look and see the energy and the effort that we come out with in Game 6 from the get-go. Even the third quarter, the intensity, the attention to detail and all those little things that will hopefully help us win this series.

Q. I'm sure you guys believe even if AD can't play Friday night that you can win that game. If by chance he cannot play, how do you win that game without him?

AUSTIN REAVES: I mean, score more points than the other team. Obviously AD is huge to what we do. I believe he'll play. If that's not the case, we're still a group of NBA basketball players that have played games without him this year. Like I said, you never want to play a game, a big game without a guy like that, but that's the nature of the game. That's really it. Score more points.