After a crushing defeat at the hands of the Thunder, Lakers guard Austin Reaves offers some advice on how they might become better.

The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t exactly in a bad place going into their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. Coming off a blowout victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers had an 11-8 record and looked very different from the team that had just been destroyed 138-94 by the Philadelphia 76ers. But the Lakers suffered another double-digit setback, this time a 133-110 loss to the Thunder, as some of their old demons returned to haunt them.

Having played just around 25% of the regular season, the Lakers can now afford to take their time. But sooner rather than later, they will need to right the ship, particularly because LeBron James isn’t quite sure whose identity the club can rely on when things go tough.

However, Lakers guard Austin Reaves offers some advice on what they should do to prevent forming negative habits and slipping into the same early-season slump that they had to get out of last year.

“You’re gonna have to make multiple efforts on the defensive end, scramble more than usual. We have to be better. We’ll learn from what we didn’t do good,” Reaves told reporters after the Lakers’ defeat, per Spectrum SportsNet.

In the midst of the Lakers’ difficulties with floor space, Austin Reaves is at the very least owning up to his own mistakes. The Lakers are now dead last in the league in terms of made threes per game and 29th in terms of percentage, which brings back memories of their difficult start to the previous campaign.

“I just haven’t shot the ball well. I like the shots that I got, shooting them confidently, just hasn’t went in,” Reaves added.

However, the Lakers guard is ultimately optimistic that they will win, beginning with their matchup with the emerging Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

“I think we’re in a good spot. Obviously we have some things we need to work on and things that we do well so we like where we’re at. […] We got a decent record right now, wish it was better but with the way we’ve been shooting the ball, it could be worse.”