It was a frustrating 125-107 Game 2 loss for Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. The Thunder took over the game to improve to 2-0 in the series. The Lakers grew more and more upset after many plays they thought were fouls were uncalled, and they were given an unfair whistle.
The game was close in the first half, and the Lakers had a 58-57 lead. However, things got out of hand in the second half. There were numerous stretches where the Thunder had offensive runs, and LA struggled to answer, which led to another dominant win.
Austin Reaves Explained Why He Confronted John Goble After the Game
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After the final buzzer, the Lakers did not head back to their locker room right away. Instead, they stayed on the court and confronted crew chief John Goble. The broadcast showed that it was mostly Reaves who did the talking, and the rest of the team was right behind him.
Back in the locker room, the undrafted guard was asked about his interaction with Goble. According to him, the official was disrespectful to him during the game and yelled in his face.
"I felt like I was disrespectful to all of them all night," Reaves said. "There's a million times in the past I've said way worse stuff.
"When we were doing the whole tip-ball, they were switching spots. I wanted to get on the other side because they got a guy on the other side… He just turned around and yelled at me -- yelled at my face. I just thought it was disrespectful.
"At the end of the day, we're grown men and I just didn't feel like he needed to yell at my face like that. I told him that, I wasn't disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would've gotten a tech. I felt like the only reason I didn't get a tech was 'cause I knew he was in the wrong."
A video from the scorer's table was posted on X. Reaves was seen furious at Goble, and his co-star, Luka Doncic, had to step in to drag him away from the official.
Reaves had a productive night against the Thunder with 31 points. However, that wasn't enough to lead the Lakers to tie the series at 1-1. Crypto.com Arena will host the following two games, with Game 3 taking place on Saturday.
