It's hard to believe now considering how far he's come, but Austin Reaves used to be a benchwarmer who got little-to-no minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers. Moreover, Reaves even started the 2024-25 season on the bench — with head coach JJ Redick inexplicably using him as the team's sixth man behind D'Angelo Russell. But those days are long gone, as Reaves has now established himself as a legitimate star, as he carried the Luka Doncic and LeBron James-less Lakers to a 127-120 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night with a 51-point masterpiece.
Reaves was in control of the Lakers offense all night long, as in addition to dropping a career-high in points in a single game, he also shot the ball exceptionally well, going 12-22 from the field and 6-10 from deep despite drawing all of the Kings' defensive attention. He even added 11 rebounds and nine assists for good measure — making sure that the Purple and Gold is in good hands even though their main stars are not healthy quite yet.
Reaves put himself in exclusive company after his thorough demolition of the Kings, and he got a major seal of approval from Lakers legend and Hall of Famer James Worthy in the process.
“#WorthyClap 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾,” the Lakers legend wrote on his official account on X (formerly Twitter) as a reaction to Reaves' 51-point night.
Just to put in greater perspective how impressive this performance is, Reaves became just the fifth player since the turn of the century to score at least 50 points in a single game for the Lakers. All four of the players that accomplished this feat are either in the Hall of Fame or will surely be once they retire: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis.
Considering how reliant the Lakers are on their stars, the absences of both Doncic and James would have been catastrophic if it weren't for Reaves.
Austin Reaves, Lakers look to keep it going tomorrow night
There is going to be no rest for these weary (and shorthanded) Lakers as they will be facing the Portland Trail Blazers tomorrow night on the second of a back-to-back set. The good news is that the Blazers did play as well on Sunday (a 114-107 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers), so there isn't going to be much in the way of a rest advantage for either of these teams.
Alas, this Blazers squad is going to be a pain to face, especially on the second of a back-to-back. Reaves, in particular, will have to face elite defenders such as Jrue Holiday and Toumani Camara; can he keep this hot streak going? For the Lakers' sake, he'll have to.
