The Los Angeles Lakers hung on to beat the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night thanks to stellar performances from LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
James had a strong all-around, efficient game, finishing with 29 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, one steal and two blocks on 12-of-17 shooting.
It was Reaves that stole the show though as he put up a career-high 38 points on 13-of-23 shooting to go along with three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
After the game, James did not realize it was a career night of Reaves but praised the guard for his contributions and wasn’t surprised.
“That was his career-high? Listen, he’s been in big moments before, he knows what to do,” James said. “We needed every bucket that he had tonight, but just the momentum and the way he was playing, he was just in a rhythm. So we needed it from him.”
Reaves has really come on in recent weeks since becoming the Lakers’ primary ball-handler and James has enjoyed watching his teammate blossom and reach his potential.
“He’s in his process. He’s taking the opportunity and he’s running with it. Literally running with it,” LeBron said. “I love every moment that he’s given an opportunity to go out and showcase his talent with the best players in the world, and showing every night that he belongs. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
In 15 games since Reaves returned from injury, he has averaged 20.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.7 assists on solid efficiency. The Lakers have needed every bit of it and will continue to need it moving forward if they are gonna make any noise in a loaded Western Conference.
James and Reaves have been close for a while so this is nothing new, but it’s still great to see the former take an interest in his young teammate’s success.
JJ Redick believes Austin Reaves has played at All-Star level for Lakers
LeBron James isn’t the only one enjoying Austin Reaves’ recent breakout as head coach JJ Redick recently praise the guard for playing at an All-Star level for the Lakers.
“Yeah, I think, I don’t know if you did, but I know someone asked me a similar question when this whole thing first started. Might have been Dan. Just about the turnovers and kind of living with that but also finding the balance. You have to give him his daring. He has a daring mentality. You have to give a little bit on that and allow him to live in that space. I think when he’s played the right way, which is taking responsibility for what he is for this team, which is primary creator, and taken the right shot and made the right passes, I’ll be honest with you, he’s played at an All-Star level,” Redick said.
“Like, he’s been that good. You don’t have stretches of 10, 12 games in an NBA season averaging 22, 8 and 6 on high efficiency without playing the right way. And he’s been that good for us. It’s when the game kind of goes sideways. And this is what we talked about yesterday. The game going sideways. It’s like, you can’t get out of character. You can’t then decide, ‘I’m gonna take bad shots cause I haven’t had a shot in a while. I’m gonna make that pass. Our team needs you to play the right way every time.’ And when he’s done that, he’s been elite.”
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