Austin Reaves makes his feelings clear about Lakers staying locked in amid 4-game skid in LeBron James' absence

LA Lakers guard Austin Reaves has seen plenty of highs and lows over the past month and a half. Shortly after the purple and gold squad pulled off eight consecutive victories with Luka Doncic in tow, Reaves and a severely limited Lakers lineup found themselves on the wrong end of a four-game skid.

With LeBron James out of action due to a groin injury, the Lakers have fallen out of the top four of the Western Conference. Despite the team's recent woes, Reaves appears to have put everything into perspective. After the Lakers' 131-126 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday, the four-year pro opened up on his mindset in these turbulent times:

"We went 0-4 so it's a pretty bad trip," Reaves admitted. "But a week ago, like JJ (Redick) said, everybody was saying 'Lakers in 5.' So we don't pay attention to any of it."

Reaves is alluding to the excitement that surrounded the Lakers after they climbed to No. 2 in the Western Conference. Redick, whose stint in Tinseltown is his first head coaching job in the NBA, has apparently instructed his team to not believe the hype and to just stay focused on playing.

To the Lakers' credit, they were within striking distance of a victory in three of the four games in their most recent road trip. However, the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets shut the door on the Lakers' hopes, as did the Nuggets, off a clutch Jamal Murray 3 on Friday.

The Lakers will have to shake off their disappointment in quick fashion as they're set to play two back-to-backs in the coming week. Their slate of opponents includes the Nuggets and the Milwaukee Bucks, two teams that have handed them defeats.

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Austin Reaves pulls off feat first accomplished by Lakers legend

Although the Lakers are mired in a four-game losing streak, there was a bright spot in their loss to the Nuggets on Friday.

Austin Reaves became just the second Laker, after the late Kobe Bryant, to log 20+ points and 10+ assists in a half in the play-by-play era.

The play-by-play era can be traced back to the 1996-97 season, which is the earliest point when comprehensive play-by-play NBA data was available.

Austin Reaves finished with 37 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists in the Lakers' loss to the Nuggets.