The Lakers are still using preseason to sort out the rough edges, and Austin Reaves thinks the biggest fixes are pretty obvious: stop giving the ball away and tighten things up on defense.
Los Angeles is 2-1 in preseason with two games left before its Oct. 21 regular-season opener against the Golden State Warriors. After Sunday’s practice, Reaves laid out what has stood out most through the first three exhibition games.
“I’m pretty sure JJ [Redick] said we’ve had 20 or more turnovers in every game,” Reaves said, via Infanity TV. “Me and Luka [Doncic] probably are the main catalyst for those.
So, clean those up, clean some stuff up defensively. But I think kind of going into the preseason, stuff was let’s really dial up our intensity, and then you can kind of rein that back into more of a system when we have to, but the main focus is just to play hard.
“We’ve had a little bit of defensive mix-ups,” Reaves continued. “I think just from honestly playing too hard. So just cleaning those up, cleaning the turnovers up, and being organized offensively.”
The numbers back up the concern. The Lakers have topped 20 turnovers in all three preseason games, including 21 in the opener against the Sacramento Kings, 25 against the Warriors on Tuesday and another 25 against the Kings on Thursday. Those giveaways have turned into 76 points for opponents, which is a problem in any setting.
Reaves put some of that on himself, though he has played only one preseason game so far and finished with three turnovers. Luka Doncic has played twice and already has 10 turnovers.
That’s not exactly new territory for Doncic, who led the NBA last season with 4.0 turnovers per game. His style naturally comes with some risk, but the Lakers are hoping the cost comes down.
Last season, Los Angeles averaged 14.5 turnovers per game, which ranked 15th in the league. Not disastrous, but also not a number that screams clean basketball.
There are reasons to think some of the defensive slippage can be patched up, too. Reaves mentioned the need for better organization on that end, and Walker Kessler could help there once he gets on the floor.
The big man, acquired via a sign-and-trade from the Utah Jazz, has yet to play in preseason after jamming his left pinky finger during training camp. He is eager to return, and there’s a chance he could suit up Tuesday against the Warriors.
Another new face, Sandro Mamukelashvili, has been in action in all three preseason games. Reaves said he sees a point guard’s feel in Mamukelashvili’s game and wants him to be more aggressive when the ball finds him.
The starting lineup still hasn’t been locked in, even with Reaves, Doncic and Kessler expected to be part of it. Redick has not finalized the five, but Reaves sounded comfortable with whichever two fill the remaining spots.
“I’ll show up and play regardless,” Reaves said. “I think we have a lot of guys that could start. Unfortunately there’s five guys that are going to start, and like JJ said a while back, he’s pretty sure three of them and the other two, regardless of who we roll out there, we have high confidence in.”
Quentin Grimes appears to be the leading candidate for one of those spots, while Mamukelashvili has also been mentioned as a possibility for the fifth starter. The Lakers still have two games to make their case, beginning with the Warriors.
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