"Be successful for them" - Austin Reaves drops heartfelt insight on LeBron James and Luka Doncic's evident trust

The LA Lakers are slugging through one of their worst five-game stretches of the season thus far. Despite off-court drama, on-court injuries, and several other factors, LA's core of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves continues to support and show trust in one another.

After suffering a heartbreaking 119-117 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, Reaves touched on what it means for two of the best in the NBA, James and Doncic, to trust him in the most crucial moments of a game.

"(It means) a lot," Reaves said. "Like you said, LeBron is arguably the greatest player ever and Luka is going to go down as one of the best players to ever play as well. I've said it many times, I barely got my foot in the league and just trying to take advantage of all the opportunities. They trusted me in that moment and I just wanted to try to go be successful for them."

Reaves (30 points) led all scorers in the Lakers' matchup versus Chicago and made a go-ahead layup with just 3.1 seconds left before a shocking buzzer-beater from the Bulls.

Bulls stun Austin Reaves, Lakers with last-second heave

Entering Thursday night's contest, the Lakers were looking to rebound following their blowout loss versus the Bulls on March 22. As they did on Saturday, Chicago gave LA their best, battling back from a 16-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.

The Bulls outscored the Lakers 44-26 in the game's final period, focusing on both LeBron James and Luka Doncic, which freed up Austin Reaves. Despite a game-high 30 points from Reaves and the go-ahead basket with just three seconds remaining, Josh Giddey hurled a 46-footer, which connected as time expired.

The play was reviewed, and revealed that Giddey got the shot off before the clock expired, giving Chicago a 119-117 victory over the Lakers, their second victory over the club in less than a week. With the loss, LA has moved to 1-5 over their last six games, raising concerns with the playoffs looming in the coming weeks.

Giddey posted a 25-point triple-double on 8-of-19 shooting, dishing out 11 assists with a game-high 14 rebounds.