Reaves understands the bigger picture.
The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up one of the best months any team has had all season, and Austin Reaves thinks the reason behind it is pretty simple.
After the Lakers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-113 on Tuesday night to close out March with a 15-2 record, Reaves spoke about what's been driving the team during this stretch and what kind of group they've become.
"We're in a good spot, playing for one another," Reaves said. "Like I said, listening to the game plans that the coaches give us, and going out and trying to execute it the best we can. And like I said, sacrificing for one another. The main goal is to win, and that's what we've been harping about."
A March to Remember
It wasn't just the record that stood out either.
The Lakers clinched a playoff berth and the Pacific Division title during this run, all while dealing with the usual wear and tear of a long season.
The win over Cleveland was their fourth straight, and they've now won 13 of their last 14 games overall.
At 50-26, the Lakers sit third in the Western Conference and have already locked up a top-six seed heading into April.
Luka Doncic was the headliner against Cleveland with 42 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and zero turnovers, becoming just the eighth player and first Laker to post 40-plus points and 10-plus assists without a turnover since the stat was first tracked.
He scored 600 points in March, joining Michael Jordan as the only players to hit that number in the month and capping what might be the best individual month by a Laker since Jerry West in December of 1965.
Where Reaves Fits Into All of This
But the reason Reaves' postgame words carry so much weight is because of how central he's been to making this whole thing work.
He's averaging 23.4 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game on the season while shooting 48.9 percent from the field, and his willingness to move between roles depending on what the team needs on a given night has been what separates this Lakers group from the version that lost five of seven games in late February.
When LeBron James publicly accepted the No. 3 role on offense in mid-March, it shifted more responsibility onto Reaves as the definitive second option behind Doncic.
And after a few uneven games early in that adjustment, he's taken off.
The Lakers are 15-3 this season when Reaves finishes with at least 25 points and five assists, and that kind of two-way creation alongside Doncic has given this team a pick-and-roll identity that defenses simply cannot load up against.
Eyes on the Postseason
The sacrifice Reaves talked about after Tuesday's game isn't just talk.
He missed 19 games earlier this season with a calf injury and had to find his rhythm all over again, all while the team kept winning and the dynamics around him kept shifting.
The fact that he's playing the best basketball of his career right now while willingly deferring on nights when Doncic is rolling shows a level of maturity that makes him one of the most valuable players heading into what should be a deep playoff run.
The Lakers open April with two games against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, starting Thursday on the road.