Austin Reaves scored a season-high 43 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 121-116 on Sunday, extending their winning streak to five games. Reaves capped the performance with a banked-in 3-pointer in the third quarter that he admitted he didn’t intend to make.
“Honestly, when I stepped back and shot it, I was like, ‘This is some bulls— Luka would shoot,'” Reaves said.
The shot ricocheted off the glass and through the hoop. It was one of many that fell for him. Reaves shot 14-of-27 from the field, 4-of-6 from 3-point range and 11-of-11 from the foul line.
“I didn’t try to bank it in,” Reaves said, explaining why he shrugged his shoulders in disbelief afterward. “It went in, so it looks the same in the stat sheet.”
Lakers Win Without Doncic
The Lakers (9-2) played without Luka Doncic, the NBA’s No. 1 scorer at 40.1 points per game, who missed the game because of tightness in his lower back. Los Angeles still looked like the confident group it has been all season, and it did so against a Pistons team (6-3) ranked No. 1 in defense.
“Guys have to step up when someone’s averaging 40,” said Lakers guard Collin Sexton, who scored 17 points off the bench. “You got to fill the shoes and be ready to impact winning. And I felt like we did that tonight, and AR picked those shoes up and he wore them.”
It was the second game Doncic has missed this season, both because of back tightness and in a back-to-back scenario. The Lakers are 2-0 without him. They continue their four-game road trip in Atlanta on Monday.
“I thought AR’s decision-making, his aggression, his ability to just consistently touch the paint and get downhill was fantastic tonight,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of Reaves.
Depth Carries the Balance
Five Lakers scored in double figures. Reaves and Sexton were joined by Ziaire Williams (17 points off the bench), Walker Kessler (12 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks) and Quentin Grimes, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter, when the Lakers built a 38-14 lead.
Detroit chipped away. The Pistons outscored Los Angeles by eight from the 2:30 mark of the third quarter until the 9:14 mark of the fourth, drawing within one at 90-89 while Reaves sat on the bench.
Reaves had already played 28 of his 33 minutes when he exited, and Redick explained why he did not return him to the game sooner.
“You got to allow the players to play through it,” Redick said. “And the same thing with the star players, you got to allow them to get their rest. And if you start just overreacting in-game and saying, ‘I got to get this guy back in, I got to get this guy back in,’ it’s just chaos. And we’re trying to create consistency for our players.”
Doncic Injury Concern Downplayed
Redick downplayed any concern about Doncic’s back becoming a lingering injury, so the Lakers’ starting backcourt will likely be together again in Atlanta.
“I mean, Luka game, Austin game: Lakers win,” Kessler said. “I don’t know if it really feels different. They’re both incredible players to play alongside, and they hit some really, really tough shots.”
Reaves was not looking to take credit for his shots. Asked about his banked-in 3 in the third quarter and another make in the first quarter, when he shot the ball over the corner of the backboard while falling out of bounds along the baseline, he gave a humble response.
“I was a lucky player tonight,” Reaves said.