Austin Reaves calls Christmas game-winner vs. Warriors his favorite NBA moment of career

When reflecting on his career, the moment Austin Reaves brought up and highlighted as a favorite was his big shot against the Warriors on Christmas Day.

Austin Reaves has had many memorable moments as a Laker in his four seasons in the NBA. From his “I’m him” game against the Memphis Grizzlies to funny moments like the “too small” gesture he made on former Laker Pat Beverly.

While those plays were both great, when discussing his favorite NBA moment, Reaves went straight into his most recent clutch shot, a game-winner on Christmas Day against the Warriors.

The contest was a back-and-forth affair and despite Steph Curry’s late-game heroics tying the game with back-to-back 3-pointers, the Lakers had a shot at winning it with 6.3 seconds left to play.

Max Christie inbounded the ball to Reaves and he went one-on-one with Andrew Wiggins and took it to the hoop to seal the win for the Lakers in the marquee matchup.

He discussed the moment on a recent episode of “The Young Man and The Three” podcast.

“It’s probably my favorite memory I have in the league so far other than maybe going to the Western Conference Finals. That was a team aspect which was a lot of fun competing at that high of a level. To be honest, I was shooting the ball horrible. I wasn’t making shots that I normally make.

AD went out, so when you have a guy like that go out, you have to find something else to fill what he does for us. It’s not just going to be one person. We had many people step up in the game. Bron was obviously amazing. I think it was just a really, really good basketball game.

Steph was making shots that nobody but Steph makes…We can go back probably to like 20 seconds [remaining] when Steph hit that last three to tie it. I completely f------ up the whole switch and gave the best shooter that’s ever stepped foot on this Earth a wide open three. It was from 35 feet but as soon as he caught it, I was like, ‘S---, it’s going in.’

But after that, it was really just, ‘Let’s not go to overtime. Let’s win the game now. There’s no need to play more basketball on Christmas. Let’s go home, see our family.’ The play was for Bron.

They did a good job. They jump-switched it. I think Steph was guarding the in-bounder. He denied him. Draymond was being really physical as always. We didn’t have any timeouts at the time so I told Max if Bron wasn’t open, then I was going to pop and get the ball. Really, just basketball instincts took over. I don’t know why Jonathan Kuminga was guarding Rui out of bounds but thank you. Then us going crazy on the court, having that moment, it was very special.”

Plays like this are why Reaves is loved by fans. He shows the ability to lead vocally talking to Max Christie prior to the play and the guts to go get the ball and be the aggressor if LeBron James is unable to get open.

The Warriors aren’t the Lakers’ biggest rivals, but there has certainly been a higher intensity in these games, with LeBron and Curry competing on opposite sides as division rivals.

When you also factor their play-in tournament matchup, a playoff series and these Christmas Day games, it makes sense that Reaves revels in making a big shot against them and helping Los Angeles earn a win over San Francisco.

Hopefully, he will have more great moments against the Warriors throughout his career. Ideally, they’ll be in blowout scenarios instead of these thrilling nail-biters.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.