Luka Doncic returned to action on Friday night and immediately picked up where he left off before getting injured, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a road win over the Memphis Grizzlies to kick off Emirates NBA Cup group play action.
Doncic scored a game-high 44 points to help the Lakers move to 4-2 on the season, which is an impressive record considering how many key players have been out with injuries.
In Doncic’s absence, Austin Reaves picked up the slack as he logged a 51-point game, 41-point game, 16-assist game and a buzzer-beat to keep the Lakers afloat.
Despite the ridiculous week that Reaves has had, he was happy to see Doncic back on the court trying to one-up him.
“I’m happy he did. It was good to see him back out there playing,” Reaves said. “Looked good, looked like he didn’t miss any time. Everybody knows how good he is. If he was trying to be me, I don’t know, probably not. He’s a little better than me. But yeah, it was good to see.”
Reaves also discussed what makes Doncic, who is averaging 45.3 points in three games this season, so difficult to guard.
“I think it’s just the pace that he plays with,” Reaves said. “He’s always been able to get to his spots. He honestly has a weird shot where it’s hard to contest without fouling. Like you can get your hand up but you’re not really contesting. But if you try to contest a little more, you foul him. So it’s difficult in that sense.
“And then his ability to pass the ball is obviously very high so you have to respect that. Obviously he’s in a good rhythm and hopefully he continues to do that.”
It’s very early in the season, but at a combined 77.3 points, Doncic and Reaves are the highest-scoring duo in the league by far.
With both Doncic and Reaves playing at such a high level, the Lakers could be a scary team down the road as they will eventually get LeBron James and others back in the lineup as well.
Lakers star Luka Doncic joins Wilt Chamberlain in record books
In the three games he has played this season, Lakers star Luka Doncic has scored 41, 49 and 44 points, respectively. With that, he joined another Lakers legend in Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to open up a season with three consecutive 40-point performances.
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