Austin Reaves picked up all of the slack on Sunday night.
Reaves, with both LeBron James and Luka Dončić out due to injuries, completely carried the Los Angeles Lakers at the Golden 1 Center. Reaves dropped a career-high 51 points to lift them to a narrow 127-120 win over the Sacramento Kings.
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Reaves was just shy of a triple-double in his historic night, too. He had 11 rebounds and nine assists to go with his 51 points. He shot 12-of-22 from the field and had six 3-pointers, too. Naturally, that drew plenty of attention.
Reaves has been on a steady incline throughout his NBA career, which has been remarkable for the former undrafted player out of Oklahoma. He averaged 20.2 points, 5.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game last season, all of which were career-highs. The 27-year-old is in the third year of a four-year, $53.8 million deal with the team this fall, too.
While they are just three games into the 2025-26 season, Reaves has picked up right where he left off. He had 26 points in the team’s season-opening loss to the Golden State Warriors, and then he had 25 points three nights later against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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But on Sunday night, Reaves had plenty of room to work. James is still out while dealing with sciatica and is hoping to return sometime in mid-November. Dončić is set to miss at least a week with a left finger sprain and lower left leg contusion, too.
With the Lakers’ stars out, Sunday was a great opportunity for the Kings to take advantage and grab an early win. Zach LaVine led the way with 32 points, and DeMar DeRozan finished with 21 points and six rebounds. But Reaves put up 15 points in the first quarter to get the Lakers out in front early on, and they then held on down the stretch to escape with the seven-point win.
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Deandre Ayton added 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, and Rui Hachimura finished with 18 points. They shot just 8-of-25 from behind the arc as a group, too. Jake LaRavia is the only other Lakers player who hit a 3-pointer.
The Lakers will turn around and host the Portland Trail Blazers next on Monday night, where Reaves will likely have to try and lead the way with Dončić and James still out. But until the team is back at full strength, Reaves has more than proven he’s capable of holding things down in the meantime.
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