The Los Angeles Lakers have been a pleasant surprise so far this season, racing out into playoff contention in the Western Conference with a hot start in 2025-26. They have been able to do that despite some injuries and other situations that have caused both LeBron James and Luka Doncic to miss games.
On Thursday night, it was Doncic sidelined while attending the birth of his second child back in Slovenia, but that didn't stop the Lakers. Austin Reaves had a monster game on the road against the Toronto Raptors and Rui Hachimura splashed a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 123-120 Los Angeles victory.
Despite having a stellar game, Reaves admitted he almost made a big blunder at the end of regulation and initially had the wrong score when the Lakers got the ball back following Brandon Ingram's missed layup with 20 seconds to go.
"You tip your hat to a guy that just cares about winning and making the right play, that's what he's done his whole career."
Austin Reaves (44 PTS, 5 REB, 10 AST) talks to the media after the #Lakers 123-120 win in Toronto over the Raptors. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/m0GgcWGJMI
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 5, 2025
“I'm gonna throw myself under the bus here,” Reaves said. “We got the rebound, LeBron tossed it to me and I'm dribbling up the court and I thought we were down one. … And then I looked up and it was 120-120, so that's bad game awareness from myself.”
Thankfully for the Lakers, Reaves eventually got his wits about him and got the Lakers into a good look, creating a four-on-three chance for James. Despite James' incredible streak to 10-point games being in jeopardy, the star forward still made the right play and found Hachimura for a wide open game-winner.
James had his streak of 1,297 games in a row scoring in double figures snapped, a run that dated all the way back to 2007. After the game, however, he insisted that the win was all that mattered.
While James' streak and Hachimura's shot stole most of the headlines, Reaves was still the star of the show in this win. He finished with 44 points on 13-for-21 shooting with 10 assists, surpassing 40 points for the third time in four games without Doncic in the lineup. While his backcourt-mate should be back very soon, Reaves has proven that he can carry a heavy load when needed and did so again on Thursday.
