The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a huge win on Wednesday night as they took down the Phoenix Suns at the Crypto.com Arena, 122-111. Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell both did their thing for LA, but one cannot undermine the heroics of Austin Reaves in what was a key victory for the Lakers.
After the game, head coach Darvin Ham had nothing but high praise for Reaves, who came out with another eye-popping performance on Wednesday. Reaves was coming off a career-high outing in the Lakers' last game, and he clearly had no intention of taking his foot off the gas:
“I think he was huge,” Ham said in his post-game interview. “He helped get us off to a great start. His ability to play downhill, draw fouls, score at all three levels, find guys, his ability to play make. I mean, he was huge for us. He’s been huge for us all year.
“You mentioned last game, he’s in a great space right now. Feeling him his game and just locked into what we’re trying to accomplish. And I just felt like it made all the sense in the world.”
Austin Reaves finished Wednesday's win with 25 points on 6-of-10 shooting, four rebounds, a career-high 11 assists, and a steal in a team-high 39 minutes of action. Reaves was aggressive all night long, forcing his way to the free-throw line time and time again, where he went 12-of-13 on the evening.
Ham also recognized the contributions of Malik Beasley in the win. Beasley was demoted to a bench role in favor of Reaves, but the former responded in the best way possible:
“Salute the Beas, being a pro’s pro,” Ham said. “Understanding the strategic part of it. And Beas was locked and ready. He came off the bench, hit two big threes for us, and competed. That’s what we need, man. That’s the competitiveness, but the togetherness that I’ve mentioned all year.”
Reaves, Beasley, and the rest of the Lakers will want to keep it going in their next game as they look to score another much-needed win on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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