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dave mcmenamin
Sacramento, California– Austin Reeves Sitting at the postgame news conference Sunday, his hair wet from the second water-bottle-shower fest of his career Los Angeles Lakers, win 127-120 Above Sacramento Kings,
The first came 17 games into his 2021–22 rookie season when he hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. dallasProving he belongs in the league undrafted. The second came when he scored a career-high 51 points with 11 rebounds and 9 assists, proving that the Lakers still had a star in the lineup that evening. Lebron James And luka doncic Were outside.
“Especially on a night when you don’t have Luka, you don’t have Braun, you don’t have jackson [Hayes]You’ve got to go out there and be big for the team,” Reeves said. “I wasn’t thinking in my mind, ‘You’ve got to score 50.’ It was, ‘Do whatever you can to help the team win.'”
He may not have been aiming for this mark, but Reeves’ teammates were doing it for him.
Doncic, who was ruled out Sunday morning with a Sprain in left finger and injury in left lower leg Before re-evaluation would sideline him for about a week, Reeves sent a message that he wanted the guard to score 60 in his absence.
When Reeves and jared vanderbilt As they were boarding the team bus to take the field Sunday afternoon, Vanderbilt also put the number in Reeves’ mind.
“I was telling AR, like, s—, we need 50 from you tonight,” said Vanderbilt, who had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. “As you can see, he did it.”
After a spectacular win over visiting on Friday minnesota timberwolves Getting some revenge on the team that knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs in a big way thanks to Doncic’s 49 pointsSunday’s walk had all the ingredients for disappointment.
James (right sciatica) is expected to be out for several more weeks, and he did not even travel, instead staying in Los Angeles for rehabilitation. Doncic also did not make the trip. Hayes was forced to miss his second consecutive game due to left knee soreness. And gabe vincent He sprained his left ankle early in the second half on Sunday and did not return. (Vincent told ESPN that the X-rays were negative, but he left the field in a walking boot).
But L.A. was in control for 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 and becoming 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 3-pointer of the night was the 500th of his career, which already puts him in 9th place on the franchise’s all-time 3s list. And he became the eighth player in team history to shoot 20 or more free throws in a game.
“I think it’s important for this group to know that you can win basketball games 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 them Indiana Pacers and 37 vs denver nuggets,
Against Sacramento, he lit up the scoreboard, but Reaves also helped.
deandre ayton He had his best game as a Laker, finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Rui Hachimura Scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. marcus smartScored 11 points in his first start by shutting out Doncic. Jake Laravia Scored 11 runs from the bench.
“This is a team, it doesn’t matter who is on the field, we’re going to come out and play hard,” Ayton said.
The most stressful part of the night for Reaves was going to the free throw line with the Lakers leading by five points with 23 seconds remaining and 49 points for the game. He knew he was going to face hell from Doncic if he didn’t hit his foul shots, especially after Reaves mocked Doncic on Instagram for being 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,'” Reeves said.
He didn’t.
And he made sure the Lakers didn’t miss James and Doncic too much. At least for the night.
