The NBA Playoffs are all about matchups. Taking on a team in a best of seven series will give each side an opportunity to get to know the other pretty well. The Los Angeles Lakers will have chance to get Austin Reaves very acquainted with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Reaves was available for three of the four games against the Timberwolves in the 2024-25 regular season. The Lakers guard averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists, shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Those numbers are not going to wow anyone, but there is an important thing to keep in mind here. Two of those games were before the Lakers made the blockbuster of the century to acquire Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks.
Reaves should have every opportunity to exploit a massive hole in the Timberwolves' defense. If the Lakers can accomplish situate him correctly, it will be a huge tipping point for this series falling in Los Angeles' favor.
Reaves is in a prime position to attack the Timberwolves
On the season debut of the Mind the Game podcast, LeBron James jumped into the idea of why the Lakers can be an elite offense.
"Myself and Luka will have the two best defenders every night. There's not many teams with a third defender, and that third defender has to guard Austin Reaves," James told his podcast partner, Steve Nash.
Towards the end of the 2024-25 regular season, the Lakers were certainly delivering on that potential. They will have the right set of circumstances against the Timberwolves to put James' theory to the test against the Timberwolves.
Zach Lowe discussed on The Zach Lowe Show how Reaves is likely to draw the Mike Conley matchup against Minnesota when those starting lineups share the floor.
"That looks to be, on paper, the only safe place to put Mike Conley," Lowe told Bill Simmons. "But it's not a safe place. Austin Reaves will hurt you in a million different ways."
Simmons joked that Reaves would be 'delighted' if that was the case. The Lakers, all of the coaching staff, and the entire fandom would equally share in that gleeful joy. Lowe mentioned wondering if that mismatch was enough to warrant sticking Conley on Rui Hachimura instead, selling out to slow down the Lakers' big three.
If that is not the strategy, and Reaves does indeed draw the matchup against the veteran guard, it will be a long day at the office for Conley. The Timberwolves point guard is long past his best defensive days. In 2025, this would create another point of attack where a Laker can be licking their chops.
Any time the Lakers' rising star finds the opportunity where Conley is his primary defender, that should be a green light for the talented offensive guard. If the Timberwolves foolishly turn to that defensive strategy too often, Shannon Sharpe might have a field day with his iconic catchphrase.
