Austin Reaves calls Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle ‘pests’ as the Lakers’ defense backs up his camp promise

Austin Reaves spent training camp complaining that his new teammates would not leave him alone on the practice floor. Two games into the season, he says that is exactly why the Los Angeles Lakers can be a different team on defense this year.

Speaking after the 2-0 start, the 28-year-old guard singled out the two wings Los Angeles added over the summer. “They’re pests. They’re long, athletic,” Reaves said of Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle, before adding Jake LaRavia and Quentin Grimes to the list of players who can guard several positions.

A camp promise, two games in

None of this is new talk from Reaves. On the third day of camp in late September, after a practice spent trying to score against Williams, Thybulle, Adou Thiero and center Walker Kessler, he made a flat prediction, as Lakers Nation reported at the time: “Defensively, we’re gonna be much better.” Los Angeles finished 20th in defensive rating last season, so the bar was not high.

The first week has backed him up. The Lakers held Golden State to 41% shooting and 8-of-36 from three in a 127-105 opening win on Wednesday, October 21. Two nights later they forced 25 Clippers turnovers and blocked nine shots in a 125-117 win, with Kessler finishing with six blocks and three steals to go with 22 points.

The two wings Reaves named have given the Lakers more than defense. Against the Clippers, Williams scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting with two steals, and Thybulle added 13 points with three 3-pointers and two steals. Both were plus-12 in the 22-point opener.

Reaves is carrying his end

The guard who has to score against those wings every day in practice is doing plenty of scoring in games. Reaves is averaging 25.5 points, 7.5 assists and 2.0 steals with 82.2% true shooting, according to his whynba player page. He went 10-of-10 from the line for 23 points against the Warriors and then shot 10-of-13 for 28 points and nine assists against the Clippers. The number he will want down is turnovers: he has averaged five a game, while Luka Dončić had 11 against the Clippers.

That is where the defense has mattered most. The Lakers have committed 39 turnovers in two games and still won both by at least eight, because the other side of the floor has held up.

What comes next

The first road test is already under way: the Lakers tipped off against the Jazz at the Delta Center on Sunday, October 25. Follow it in the Game Center.