SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Austin Reaves sat at the postgame news conference Sunday, his hair soaked from the second water-bottle-shower celebration of his career following the Los Angeles Lakers’ 127-120 win over the Sacramento Kings.
The first came 17 games into his 2021-22 rookie season when he hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in Dallas, proving he belonged in the league after going undrafted. The second came when he scored a career-high 51 points, to go with 11 rebounds and 9 assists, proving the Lakers still had a star in the lineup on an evening when LeBron James and Luka Doncic were out.
“Especially on a night where you don’t have Luka, you don’t have Bron, you don’t have Jaxson [Hayes], you got to go out there and be big for the team,” Reaves said. “I wasn’t in my head thinking, ‘You got to go score 50.’ It was, ‘Do whatever you can do to help the team win.'”
He might not have been aiming for the mark, but Reaves’ teammates were doing it for him.
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Doncic, who was ruled out Sunday morning with a left finger sprain and a left lower leg contusion that will sideline him for approximately a week before being reevaluated, texted Reaves that he wanted the guard to score 60 in his absence.
When Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt were boarding the team bus to head to the arena Sunday afternoon, Vanderbilt also planted the number in Reaves’ head.
“I was telling AR, like, s—, we’re going to need 50 from you tonight,” said Vanderbilt, who had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals off the bench. “As you can see, he did it.”
After Friday’s rousing win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves while getting some revenge on the team that knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs and thanks in large part to Doncic’s 49 points, Sunday’s outing had all the ingredients for a letdown.
James (right sciatica) is expected to be out for several more weeks, and he didn’t even make the trip, instead staying in Los Angeles to rehab. Doncic didn’t travel, either. Hayes was ruled out for the second straight game with left knee soreness. And Gabe Vincent turned his left ankle near the start of Sunday’s second half and did not return. (Vincent told ESPN that X-rays were negative, but he left the arena in a walking boot).
But L.A. was in control most of the game, with Reaves scoring seven points in the first quarter, 14 in the second, 15 in the third and 15 in the fourth to become the 12th player in franchise history to hit the 50-point plateau.
He shot 12-for-22 from the floor (including 6-for-10 from 3) and 21-for-22 from the foul line. His fourth 3-pointer of the night was the 500th of his career, which already ranks him No. 9 on the franchise’s all-time list of made 3s. And he became just the eighth player in team history to hit 20 free throws or more in a game.
“I do think for this group it’s important to know that you can win a basketball game without those two guys,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick, referring to James and Doncic.
Luka Doncic texted Austin Reaves that he wanted Reaves to score 60 in his absence, while Jarred Vanderbilt told the Lakers guard, “We’re going to need 50 from you tonight.” Getty Images
The last two times Reaves played without Doncic and James last season, he scored 45 against the Indiana Pacers and 37 versus the Denver Nuggets.
Against Sacramento, he lit up the scoreboard, but Reaves also facilitated.
Deandre Ayton had his best game as a Laker, finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Rui Hachimura scored 18 on 7-for-10 shooting. Marcus Smart, making his first start with Doncic out, put up 11 points. Jake LaRavia scored 11 off the bench.
“This team is, no matter who’s on the floor, we’re going to come out and play hard as hell,” Ayton said.
The most stressful part of the night for Reaves was going to the free throw line with the Lakers up by five with 23 seconds to go and sitting on 49 points for the game. He knew he would catch hell from Doncic if he didn’t hit his foul shots, especially since Reaves poked fun at Doncic on Instagram for getting stuck at 49 against Minnesota when Doncic missed a free throw in the final minutes.
“I ain’t gonna lie: I went to the free throw line, I’m like, ‘S—, I better not miss,'” Reaves said.
He didn’t.
And he made sure the Lakers didn’t miss James and Doncic too much. At least for the night.
