DETROIT (AP) — Austin Reaves thought he had a very fortunate night against the Detroit Pistons.
He was the only one in the Los Angeles Lakers locker room who thought so.
On a night when the Lakers were playing without red-hot Luka Doncic, Reaves scored 43 points against one of the league's best defenses in a 121-116 win.
“I was a lucky basketball player tonight,” said Reaves, who went 14 of 27 from the floor, including 4 of 6 on 3-pointers, and added
a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line.
Walker Kessler, who finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds, disagreed with his teammate.
“Luka is an incredible player, and I think there are times when he's playing that A.R. kind of has to take a secondary role,” he said. "But you could see tonight that he's a very capable player.
“It doesn't matter if we get a Luka game or an A.R. game — we're still going to win.”
Reaves had big shoes to fill, as the Lakers needed him to step up in place of the league's hottest player. In his last four games, all Los Angeles wins, Donic was averaging 45 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
That's a tough scoreline to match, but the 28-year-old came close. He had five rebounds and four assists in 36:41 with only one turnover.
“He’s a heck of a playmaker, a heck of a scorer, and a great competitor,” Kessler said. “It's just incredible to play alongside he and Luka, because they hit some really, really tough shots.”
He saved his toughest for last.
The Pistons trailed by 26 points in the second quarter but were only down 109-104 going into the final minute. The Lakers couldn't get into their offense, and Reaves ended up with the ball as the shot clock was about to expire.
He flipped up a one-legged, off-balance 3-pointer that went through the net to erase Detroit's last chance.
“That was a terrible shot.” he said. "When I stepped back to shoot, I thought it looked like one of those ridiculous shots that Luka makes. I didn't even try to make it, and then it went in.
“Now that looks like a good shot in the box score, but it was 100% lucky.”
Reaves quite often points to luck and good fortune when talking about himself, but that underrates the work he's put into just having an NBA career.
After playing two years at Wichita State and a year at Oklahoma, he declared for the 2021 draft. He went undrafted, but only because that's what he wanted. The Pistons, victims of his big night on Sunday, were planning to pick him with the 42nd pick, but he declined in order to sign as a free agent with the Lakers.
The Pistons ended up taking Isaiah Livers, who played 130 NBA games and is now playing in Japan.
Meanwhile, Reaves came into the game averaging 23.0 points per game during Doncic's four-game hot streak, then found another gear against the team he shunned.
“There's never a dull moment around here,” he joked. “The good thing is that I didn't play a perfect game tonight. There's always room to get better.”
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