No Luka Doncic, no LeBron James, but that was no problem for the Los Angeles Lakers as they pulled off a 127-120 win against the Sacramento Kings on the front end of a back-to-back. It was Austin Reaves who stepped up for the Lakers, dropping a career-high 51 points while knocking down several big three-point shots in the fourth quarter to keep the Kings at bay. Following the game Lakers head coach JJ Redick explained what it is that enabled Reaves to go off the way he did, as per Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The LA Times.
“He was fantastic. He did a little bit of everything for us tonight, all over the place, scored the basketball at an incredible level. But just his tenacity to compete,” Redick said. “It’s so apparent, every single day he’s in the gym. He just loves competition, he thrives on competition.
“We talked about it some a little bit towards the end of last season and then right after the regular season,” Redick continued. “This is a small town kid from Arkansas, went undrafted, who last year averaged a 20-ball in the NBA and just had a 50-ball. These moments are incredible for him, I think his teammates see that, I know as a coaching staff we see that. He just lives in the moment and he’s ready for every single moment that comes. It’s a pleasure to be around him every day.”
As JJ Redick mentioned, it wasn’t just scoring 51 points that Austin Reaves contributed during the Lakers’ win against the Kings. He had a double-double with 11 rebounds, was one assist short of a triple-double with nine, and also came up with two steals in a little over 39 minutes. He shot 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from the field, 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the three-point line and 21-of-22 (95.5 percent) from the free-throw line.
The last time the Lakers were without both Doncic and James was last season back on Feb. 8 against the Indiana Pacers. James was sidelined due to injury and Doncic had not yet been cleared to return from injury following the trade. The Lakers would also end up winning that game behind a then career-high 45 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from Reaves.
Coming into Sunday’s game against the Kings, Reaves had been averaging 25.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 10.0 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 58.1 percent shooting from the field, 30 percent shooting from the three-point line and 80 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Up next for the Lakers is the second night of a back-to-back at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
