OKLAHOMA CITY -- Tuesday's 108-90 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was only the third game Austin Reaves had played since missing a month because of a Grade 2 left oblique strain.
But, after shooting just 3-for-16 and coughing up a team-high four turnovers as the Los Angeles Lakers dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals to the defending champs, Reaves admitted that context is meaningless at this point of the postseason.
"I mean, nobody cares about that," Reaves said when asked about the challenge of ramping back to form after missing so much time. "I got to go out there and play better."
Since returning in Game 5 of the Lakers' first-round series against the Houston Rockets, Reaves is shooting 14-for-46 from the field (30%) and 2-for-17 on 3-pointers (12%).
On Tuesday, he was 0-for-5 from 3, failing to connect from deep for the third time in 29 career postseason games, according to ESPN Research. Two of those games have come this postseason.
"He was out a month," LeBron James said when asked about Reaves' struggles. "We know he's going to make shots and make plays, but that's tough. ... Obviously we're trying to fast-track him, getting back on the floor and doing the things that he was doing before the injury. But he was out a month, so rightfully so, if he has some games where he's missing shots or whatever the case may be.
"His presence alone helps us no matter what."
According to ESPN Tracking, Reaves shot 0-for-10 when contested by a Thunder defender in Game 1. He is the first player to go 0-for-10 or worse on contested shots in a playoff game since the Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green in 2023.
"I mean obviously the easy thing [to say] is to make more shots," Reaves said when asked what he has to improve for Thursday's Game 2. "I got to my spots multiple times and just missed a couple of easy shots. But for the most part, you got to limit the turnovers. They pressure the ball really well, just got to give us an opportunity to get a shot on goal every possession."
Reaves also went only 2-for-2 from the line, after going 13-for-14 on free throws in his first two games back against Houston.
"I think we did a good job of just executing the plan on him," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "With him, you just can't give him a lot of cracks. If you give him easy stuff, he's able to really burn you. I thought we did a nice job tonight of keeping him at bay, not fouling him too much and being in a good position on him and just making him earn everything."
The Lakers committed 18 turnovers, leading to 20 points for the Thunder.
Reaves was hardly the only one to blame for L.A.'s offensive woes, however.
"We've got to make shots," said Lakers coach JJ Redick. "You know, we've got to make shots. Ten-for-30 from 3. Austin goes 3-for-16. I thought Luke [Kennard] passed on some really good looks down early. Then, don't turn the ball over. We had 10 turnovers in the second half."
Marcus Smart also shot just 4-for-15.
"That's just unacceptable," Smart said. "I got to be better. And it starts with me, you know, I take full accountability for it. And I know I'm not the reason we lost, but I feel like I could've gave more."
James also pointed out the obvious, so no one would forget the other guy L.A. is still missing, who was sitting to his left in the postgame locker room.
"We're playing against the No. 1 defensive team in the NBA," James said. "And when you play against a great defense, you have to have guys that can attract multiple defenders on the floor at all times. ... When you play against the world champions and [miss] having a guy that averages 34 [points] and eight [rebounds] and nine [assists] and is that special, that's [a major piece missing]."
Though Luka Doncic's absence was clearly a factor Tuesday, there was no loss of confidence in Reaves, despite his rough start to the series.
"He didn't play well, but he's going to bounce back," Redick said. "He's a great player."
ESPN's Tim MacMahon and Matt Williams contributed to this report.