Austin Reaves owns blame for Lakers’ second-unit collapse against Warriors
Austin Reaves admitted he played terribly in the Lakers’ loss to the Warriors, where a 25-point first-half lead slipped away and the second unit struggled badly.
Austin Reaves did not look for cover after the Los Angeles Lakers blew a 25-point first-half lead and lost to the Golden State Warriors by double digits. Reaves took responsibility for his part in the collapse, saying plainly, « I was terrible again. That’s it. » His candor stood out in a game that exposed serious problems for the Lakers’ bench. The loss came on October 30, 2026, at Chase Center in San Francisco, where Reaves was photographed reacting during the game.
Reaves turned the ball over eight times and shot 9-for-19 from the field. He finished with a plus-minus of -13, the worst among Lakers starters. Reaves was not the only reason the team fell apart, but as a player on a superstar contract, he drew heightened scrutiny in a loss of this size. Reporting on the game noted that his struggles came in a stretch when the Lakers could not hold a lead they had built with ease in the first half.
The Lakers performed far better when Luka Dončić was on the floor than when he rested. With Dončić off the court, the second unit was largely built around players who joined the team this offseason, and Reaves was at the center of the struggles. The group has been searching for chemistry, a factor that could be offered as an explanation for its poor play. Reaves did not accept that as a justification for the results.
« It’s real, but that doesn’t give that second unit an excuse to be pretty terrible, » he said. « And that starts with me. I’ll watch the film and try to be better. But you have to learn on the fly and pick up things quickly. As I said, I have to be better to start that. » His comments fit a career he has built on steady improvement. Reaves has previously run second units, though those lineups often included LeBron James, which gave the bench a different structure and a different level of experience to lean on. This year, he is working with new teammates and a changed rotation.
The challenge is also tactical. Opponents now have more detailed scouting on Reaves, and the approach has become clear: send doubles at him on ball screens and try to overwhelm him physically into turnovers. Against the Warriors, that pressure contributed to the eight giveaways that defined his night. Reaves will need to find answers as the season continues, and the way he responds to this pressure will likely shape how quickly the second unit becomes competitive without Dončić.
The loss left the Lakers with a clear problem to address. A team that led by 25 points in the first half could not sustain its advantage, and the drop-off on the bench was the central storyline afterward. Reaves’ willingness to name his own performance as terrible gave a direct account of what went wrong, and it set up the next test for a second unit still searching for its identity.
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