Austin Reaves on "I'M HIM" performance, Postgame Interview | April 16, 2023 NBA Playoffs

IT’S HIM HE TOLD US ALL ABOUT HIM AUSTIN REAVES NOW AS A STARTER IN THE LAST 11 GAME WITH THE LAKERS NINE AND TWO WENT OFF IN THE FOURTH QUARTER. PERFECT FIVE FOR FIVE FROM THE FIELD, FINISHED WITH 23 POINTS. HERE HE IS WITH THE PODIUM GAME. WHAT DID THAT OUT OF THOSE ACTIONS COME ABOUT? WHAT WERE YOU READING? WHAT WAS THE CONVERSATION ON THE COURT AND HOW DID YOU END UP EXECUTING LIKE YOU DID? OH, IT WAS REALLY JUST, YOU KNOW, PLAYING BASKETBALL. OBVIOUSLY, WHEN YOU GOT GUYS LIKE BRON AND AD, IT MAKES LIFE

A LITTLE EASIER. BUT, YOU KNOW, IT’S IT’S THE GAMES. IT’S NOT THE SAME. IT’S MORE PHYSICAL AND STUFF LIKE THAT, BUT LIKE THE LITTLE STUFF IN BASKETBALL, YOU KNOW, STAYS THE SAME REGARDLESS. REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS. SO, YOU KNOW, WE WE CLOSED THE GAME GREAT. YEAH AND THAT’S REALLY AUSTIN AFTER A COUPLE OF THOSE BUCKETS, YOU RAN BACK TOWARD THE BENCH YELLING I’M HIM. I’M HIM. WHAT WAS THAT MOMENT LIKE FOR YOU? AND JUST KIND OF EVERYTHING THAT WAS GOING ON IN YOUR HEAD. YOU KNOW, IT’S A LOT OF EMOTIONS. YOU KNOW, YOU YOU DREAM ABOUT

BEING, YOU KNOW, ON A STAGE LIKE THIS, YOU KNOW, THIS, YOU KNOW, THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THE WORLD IS THE PLAYOFFS. AND, YOU

KNOW, I GOT HOT LATE AND, YOU KNOW, HAVE FUN. AT HALFTIME. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU GUYS HAD A SENSE FOR WHAT EIGHTIES STATUS WAS. MEMPHIS HAD GONE ON A RUN. WHAT WERE THE ADJUSTMENTS THAT WERE MADE? WAS THERE ANYTHING MAJOR? AND THEN I MEAN, I THINK YOU GUYS END UP WINNING THE SECOND HALF PLAY 69 TO LIKE 45 OR 47 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. LIKE WHAT WAS WHAT WAS THE BIG

DIFFERENCE? YOU KNOW, WE DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT AD’S STATUS WAS. SO, YOU KNOW, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT NEXT MAN UP MENTALITY. IF SOMETHING WAS, YOU KNOW, BAD WRONG WITH HIM THING, THANK GOD THAT YOU KNOW, NOTHING MAJOR IS WRONG WITH HIM. AND IT WAS YOU KNOW, IT WAS REALLY JUST FOCUSING ON OURSELVES. I FELT LIKE THERE WAS STRETCHES IN THE FIRST HALF THAT WE TALKED ABOUT. YOU KNOW, IN HALFTIME THAT YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF LET IT GET AWAY FROM OURSELVES. SO IT WAS MORE SO ABOUT US. OBVIOUSLY, YOU MAKE LITTLE ADJUSTMENTS HERE AND THERE

HOW, YOU KNOW, THE GAME’S GOING FOR THEM AS WELL. BUT IT WAS MORE SO ABOUT US. WERE YOU AS CALM AS A GROUP AS IT SEEMED? I MEAN, AFTER HALFTIME AND WHATNOT? BECAUSE IT DIDN’T SEEM LIKE ANYBODY WAS WORRIED OR CONCERNED AT ALL. YEAH. I MEAN, THEY MADE THE RUN, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE SECOND AND, YOU KNOW, KIND OF FELT LIKE THE GAME SHOULD HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, TEN, 12. BUT YOU LOOK UP AND THERE’S SIX. SO IT’S NOT LIKE, YOU KNOW, YOU’RE GETTING BEAT. YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, 12, 15, TEN

GOING INTO HALF, YOU KNOW, WE LED MOST OF THE THE FIRST HALF. BUT LIKE I SAID, THE RUN, YOU LOOK UP AND WE PLAYED CONSISTENT BASKETBALL FOR THE MOST PART THE FIRST HALF. AND YOU LOOK UP AFTER A RUN LIKE THAT. AND INSTEAD OF IT BEING 12 TO 15, IT’S IT’S FIVE, SIX. SO THERE WASN’T REALLY ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IT’S A GAME OF RUN. SO THAT WAS REALLY WHAT WAS TALKED ABOUT IN THE LOCKER ROOM. AUSTIN THE WAY YOU GUYS ENDED THE REGULAR SEASON AND EVEN IN THE PLAYING GAME WASN’T NECESSARILY YOUR

SHARPEST BASKETBALL. SO DID YOU GUYS HAVE ANY TREPIDATION OR ANXIOUSNESS GOING INTO THIS ONE, WONDERING WHETHER YOU COULD TURN IT UP TO THIS LEVEL OR WAS THERE ANY SIGNS THAT MAYBE YOU THOUGHT, OH, WE WILL PLAY AT THIS LEVEL COMING INTO TODAY? YEAH, I THINK IT REALLY STARTED WITH ADAM BRON’S PREPARATION AND, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE HOW LOCKED IN THEY WERE THE NOT THE DAY AFTER WE WON AGAINST MINNESOTA BUT THE NEXT DAY WHEN WE MET, IT WAS, IT WAS NO JOKE AND NO NOTHING LIKE THEY WERE SUPER LOCKED IN YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATING WHAT WE

COULD DO TO TO BE GREAT AND WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE TWO GUYS LIKE THAT, I MEAN, YOU DON’T HAVE ANY CHOICE BUT TO FOLLOW THE LEAD. SO I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE A LOT OF TALENT. SO THAT WASN’T REALLY A WORRY. IT’S JUST, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOCK IN, WE FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE GOT A REALLY GOOD CHANCE REGARDLESS OF. WHAT DID YOU SEE OUT OF YOUR BACKCOURT MATE? D’ANGELO COMPARE IT TO THE PLAY IN GAME. AND TONIGHT, YOU KNOW, DIALLO’S A REALLY, REALLY GOOD BASKETBALL PLAYER. AND I THINK WHAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE,

YOU KNOW, TALKING ABOUT FOR HIM AFTER OR DURING THE PLAYING GAME OR AFTER THE PLAYING GAME WAS YOU KNOW, I DIDN’T PLAY WELL. BUT YOU GO BACK AND LOOK AND, YOU KNOW, HE HAD EIGHT ASSISTS. HE SO UNSELFISH THAT THAT CARRIES, YOU KNOW, A LONG WAY FOR A GROUP. YOU KNOW WHEN HE COMES OFF A PICK AND ROLL SWING SWING OR YOU KNOW YOU KICK IT TO HIM FOR WHAT HE HAS THE THREE BUT YOU KNOW HE DOES THE EXTRA IT GOES A LONG WAY. SO IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT WHAT YOU SEE, YOU KNOW, ON

THE STAT SHEET. AND THEN OBVIOUSLY TONIGHT HE WAS HE WAS BIG. YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU HAVE 19 POINTS, SEVEN ASSISTS. YOU KNOW, HE’S LIKE I SAID, IT’S REALLY GOOD. AND, YOU KNOW, IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT WHAT YOU SEE ON HERE. IT’S, YOU KNOW, OTHER STUFF TO THE LOCKER ROOM HIM INSTILLING CONFIDENCE IN ME AND THE REST OF THE GUYS AS WELL. OUR LOCKER ROOM IS OPEN. IF ANYBODY WANTED TO COME IN COME IN. BUT WE MAYBE WE TO NEW YORK AND TAKE OFF AUSTIN. KURT SANDOVAL, ABC SEVEN. HEY AND YOU GUYS ARE DOWN SIX AT

THE HALF AND THERE’S SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY. BE WITH AD DESCRIBE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT THIRD QUARTER WHERE YOU GUYS PUT UP 37. YEAH I MEAN. YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID THANK GOD EIGHTIES OKAY AND YOU KNOW HE COME OUT AND PLAYED A GREAT SECOND HALF. BUT IT WAS LIKE I SAID REALLY JUST ABOUT US AND HALFTIME KIND OF LIMITING MISTAKES AND KEEPING THOSE TOURS LOW SO THEY CAN’T GET OUT IN TRANSITION MAKE THEM MAKE THEM SCORE AND YOU KNOW, THE HALF COURT BUT YEAH, IT WAS REALLY, YOU KNOW,

EVERYBODY WAS CALM, LIKE I SAID AND YOU KNOW, READY TO JUST GET BACK OUT THERE AND WHOOP SOME MORE. AND. IT DOESN’T HE’S TIRED, OBVIOUSLY. YOU KNOW, RUI CAME HERE, I THINK KIND OF TRYING TO GET HIS CAREER BACK ON TRACK AND STUFF. HOW HAVE YOU KIND OF SEEN HIM, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, FIND HIS IDENTITY MORE AS A BASKETBALL PLAYER AND JUST HOW HAPPY WERE YOU FOR HIM TO HAVE THE GAME THAT HE HAD TODAY? REALLY WAS HUGE TODAY. AND, YOU KNOW, HE HIS SKILL SET IS CRAZY. LIKE FOR US TO GET HIM ALONG

WITH ALL THE OTHER TALENT WE HAVE. IT JUST BRINGS ANOTHER ASPECT TO OUR TEAM. YOU KNOW, HE OBVIOUSLY SHOT THE BALL REALLY WELL TONIGHT, BUT HE WAS SOLID ON THE DEFENSIVE INTO MAKING PLAYS THERE, AND HE NEVER REALLY TRIES TO DO TOO MUCH. HE’S ALWAYS UNDER CONTROL, LIKES TO GET TO HIS SPOTS. LIKE I SAID, CATCH AND SHOOT WAS REALLY GOOD. SO, YOU KNOW, IT’S IT’S A BIG SHOUT OUT TO HIM FOR HAVING A