Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves showed up big in his team's 128-124 double-overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks, notching a triple-double and hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining.

Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 47 minutes as the Lakers opened a six-game road trip by winning their fourth straight game despite trailing by 19 points in the fourth quarter and never leading in regulation.

After the game, Reaves' Lakers teammates were fired up.

After the game, Lakers coach Darvin Ham spoke about Reaves and his big game on Tuesday night, per Mike Trudell of Spectrum Sports Network:

“'He’s fearless – I love coaching the kid … He wants to win. He’s a flat out winner.' – Darvin Ham on Reaves, who drained the game-winning 3 in double OT”

Immediately after the game, Reaves spoke about the Lakers' 19-point, fourth quarter comeback, per Spectrum SportsNet:

Said Reaves, “There's two things you can do: you can fold and go to Memphis tomorrow, or you can man up and face the challenge head-on.”

Reaves certainly didn't fold, racking up 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Lakers win.

The Lakers love Austin Reaves

Despite being heavily involved in trade rumors last February, the Lakers never had any real interest in trading Reaves.

Despite being linked to players such as Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray, Los Angeles made it clear that they were not willing to part with their young guard.

That line of thinking makes sense for the Lakers. Reaves is on a cost-controlled, team-friendly deal for at least two more seasons, is productive, and continues to be a fan favorite.

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Another Lakers win without LeBron James

After this win, the Lakers have moved to 6-4 in games without LeBron James; the Lakers have a better winning percentage (60 percent) with James out than when he's on the court (54.8 percent).

It's not realistic for this to suggest in any way that the Lakers are better off without James. However, what this statistic is showing is that the Lakers are not mere pushovers anymore without James. Last season, they went 13-14 (.481) without him compared to 30-25, (.545 win rate) with him.

Two seasons ago, they went 8-18 (.308) with James out (25-31, .446 with him). And then during the 2020-21 season, they went 12-15 (.444) with James nursing an ankle injury (30-15, .667 with James healthy).

This progress should give Lakers fans some extra confidence that the team is beginning to buck their trend of dropping off a cliff whenever James is out.

This latest victory moves Los Angeles to 40-32 on the season, and they remain within striking distance of the sixth spot in the Western Conference standings, as they're currently just three games behind the Dallas Mavericks.