A move to the Los Angeles Lakers' bench hasn't sapped Austin Reaves' confidence one bit. In fact, Reaves is back to playing at his best in a sixth man role, finishing out games in style alongside LeBron James and company. And on Tuesday night, it was Reaves who essentially sealed the Lakers' 106-103 win over the Phoenix Suns in the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament with a clutch crossover triple over Grayson Allen.

Reaves has made it clear that he is not a player who is afraid of the moment. And why would the Lakers guard be scared, especially when he has been putting in the work that has earned him quite the big role in the squad and a tender spot in the hearts of Lakers fans all over the world?

“Like I've said many times, I put the work in. I'm in the gym a lot. I haven't shot the ball as well as I wanted to so far this year. And I just keep trusting myself,” Reaves said in his postgame interview with Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet. “Obviously my teammates and coaches have the same trust in giving me the ball in that situation so I don't want to let them down.”

Austin Reaves, indeed, started off the season disappointingly relative to the standard he set to end the 2022-23 season. But a bench role appears to have given him new life, and now, he's flourishing beyond belief.

Even back when Reaves was still a rookie whom Lakers head coach Darvin Ham put on the floor for a dose of hustle, the guard out of Oklahoma already showed flashes of having the clutch gene. Who could ever forget the time that Reaves drained a buzzer-beating game-winning triple against the Dallas Mavericks back in December 2021?

Given the Lakers' struggles from deep as a team (even in their win against the Suns, they shot 9-30 from deep, which is “good” for 30 percent), Austin Reaves will have to continue to provide production for the Purple and Gold from the perimeter. And with his exceptional work ethic, there's no reason to expect him to shy away from doing so anytime soon.