The Los Angeles Lakers have fallen to 0-1 after a deflating 119-109 defeat at the hands of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
With 21-time All-Star LeBron James sidelined due to sciatica for the first stretch of the new season, the Lakers' inability to create consistent offense with the ball not in the hands of 5-time All-NBA First Team selection Luka Dončić or fringe All-Star Austin Reaves was evident.
In fact, the latter of the duo spoke openly post-game about his rough decision-making, five-turnover night and failure to connect with the team's newly-minted starting center Deandre Ayton amid James' prolonged absence.
"Obviously when you're missing a guy like (James), you're not going to fill that with one person," Reaves told media members Tuesday night, as shared by Spectrum SportsNet on Twitter/X.
"I need to do something a little better, Luka's got to do something a little better, Rui (Hachimura) has got to pitch in a little more."
"I had five turnovers tonight. A couple of them were just dumb, but a couple of them were just miscommunications on where I needed to throw a pass to (Ayton). It wasn't the wrong read, it was the wrong pass at the right time, basically."
Despite finishing his season debut with an efficient 26 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals, Reaves' five turnovers and five personal fouls led to him finishing with a -14 in the plus-minus department.
Following the matchup, the skilled 27-year-old initiator attributed his lack of chemistry with Ayton to time, and that it will take a few reps throughout the course of the long season for both to be on the same page in the pick-and-roll.
Reaves also cited Golden State's vaunted tandem of Curry and Draymond Green as a prime example of a star pairing with expert knowledge of each other's tendencies, a wrinkle of their game that comes purely from experience.
Heading into their next matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, Reaves and Dončić will attempt to build more chemistry against another formidable rim-deterrent in 4-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
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