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 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
The first came 17 games into his 2021-22 rookie season when he scored 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 along with 11 rebounds and 9 assists, proving the Lakers still had a star in the lineup on a night when LeBron James and Luka Doncic were absent.
“Especially on a night when you don’t have Luka, you don’t have Bron, you don’t have Jaxson. [Hayes]you have to go out there and be big for the team,” Reaves said. “I wasn’t in my head thinking, ‘You have to score 50.’ It was, “Do whatever you can to help the team win.” »
He may not have been aiming for the score, but Reaves’ teammates were doing it for him.
Doncic, who was ruled out Sunday morning with a sprained left finger and a bruised lower left leg that will sideline him for about a week before being reevaluated, texted Reaves to say he wanted the guard to score 60 in his absence.
When Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt were boarding the team bus to the arena Sunday afternoon, Vanderbilt also planted the number in Reaves’ head.
“I was telling AR, like, shit, 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 blowout win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves while gaining 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 disappointment.
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 twisted his left ankle near the start of the second half Sunday and didn’t return. (Vincent told ESPN the X-rays were negative, but he left the arena wearing a walking boot).
But Los Angeles controlled 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 reach the 50-point plateau.
He shot 12 of 22 from the floor (including 6 of 10 from 3) and 21 of 22 from the foul line. His fourth three-pointer of the night was the 500th of his career, which already ranks him 9th on the franchise’s all-time list of made three-pointers. And he became just the eighth player in team history to make 20 or more free throws in a game.
“I think for this group, it’s important to know that you can win a basketball game without those two guys,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said, referring to James and Doncic.
The last two times Reaves played without Doncic and James last season, he scored 45 against the Indiana Pacers and 37 against 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 of 10 shooting. Marcus Smart, making his first start with Doncic, scored 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 getting to the free throw line with the Lakers up five with 23 seconds remaining and with 49 points for the game. He knew he’d catch the hell out of Doncic if he didn’t hit his foul shots, especially since Reaves mocked Doncic on Instagram for getting stuck at 49 against Minnesota when Doncic missed a free throw in the final minutes.
“I’m not going to lie: I went to the free throw line, I’m like, ‘S—, I better not miss,'” Reaves said.
He didn’t do it.
And he made sure the Lakers didn’t miss James and Doncic too much. At least for the night.
