With both Luka Doncic and LeBron James out due to injury, the focal point of the Los Angeles Lakers offense becomes Austin Reaves. And on Sunday night, he delivered the best game of his NBA career and led the Lakers to a road win over the Sacramento Kings.
Reaves finished with a career-high 51 points to go along with 11 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and just two turnovers in the Lakers’ 127-120 victory. It was truly an all-world performance for Reaves and one the Lakers needed in order to pick up the win.
And that win was the most important thing to him as he spoke about after the game, noting that while his game still would have felt special, it wouldn’t have meant as much if the Lakers had lost, via Dan Woike of The Athletic:
“I just want to win. I’m not going out there ‘Oh I’m going to get 50.’ I have no interest in that. I’m interested in winning. I love to win — at anything,” he said. “If we would’ve lost, it’s still different, but it’s not as much of an accomplishment. And a lot of people will say that, but I don’t think a lot of people mean that.”
That mindset is why the Lakers view Reaves so highly. He is willing to do whatever it takes as long as the team is victorious in the end. On this night, it required him to take over and dominate offensively, and this isn’t the first time that has been the case.
Reaves has had a couple of performances throughout his career that have put him in the history books next to the likes of Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his current teammates James and Doncic. And even he can’t quite explain how he pulls out these unbelievable games:
“I still don’t feel that way. I don’t know why. Obviously, I did it. And I’ve done crazy things multiple times. So why not? I don’t know,” Reaves told me. “But it’s still Wilt. You named f—— players that are in the Hall of Fame. And I’m an undrafted guy that literally got an opportunity on a two-way. … I’m not supposed to be doing this.”
Reaves may feel like he’s not supposed to perform at this level, but at this point it has happened enough times that the undrafted guard has gained the respect of everyone throughout the league. And if that is what the Lakers need to win without James and Doncic, Reaves is going to continue to do everything he can to continue these performances.
LeBron James and Luka Doncic celebrate Austin Reaves’ career-night in Lakers’ win
Neither LeBron James or Luka Doncic were with the team in Sacramento, but both of the Lakers superstars took to social media to celebrate Austin Reaves’ career-best performance in the win over the Kings.
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