Lakers top Magic on Austin Reaves’ career-high 35 points
Austin Reaves #AustinReaves
LOS ANGELES — What would the Lakers be without Austin Reaves?
His lanky physique is unimposing, his aww-shucks off-court demeanor even charming. But give Reaves an inch of daylight, and the 24-year-old can drain a shot in your face – and draw a foul while he does it.
Reaves has had his heroic moments this season, but in his second year, he’s never had a bigger game than he did Sunday night, willing the Lakers (35-37) to a 111-105 win over the Orlando Magic that they could not afford to let slip after back-to-back losses. He scored a career-best 35 points to go with 6 assists and 6 rebounds in a performance that might be remembered as one that helped the Lakers make the postseason – if they can still get there.
He had offensive assistance, as four other Lakers scored between 18 and 12 points. While it was a humble scoring night for Anthony Davis, who had 15 points on 15 shots, as a team, the Lakers shot over 40% from deep with 13 threes. Notably, D’Angelo Russell was 4 for 8 with 18 points.
But Reaves’ influence on the game was impossible to second-guess: The Lakers outscored the Magic by 25 points in his minutes. He drew four and-1 fouls, and made the free throws on all of them. Overall, his 16 for 18 performance at the free throw line was a huge difference-maker – especially since he had 11 attempts in the fourth quarter (making nine).
Some losses have hangovers, and the Lakers started Sunday night’s game as if their buzzer-beater loss to Dallas were still hanging around their necks. Fresh off their own win over the Clippers on Saturday, the Magic moved with urgency, bullying the Lakers inside early with their young bigs Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. Less than seven minutes in, Orlando was up by eight.
Reaves’ first stint started to change that. After subbing in with five minutes left in the first quarter, Reaves made his first shot of the game, a floater. With more reserves subbing in, the energy began to grow: The Lakers bench took the lead by the end of the quarter and would go on to outscore the Magic bench 30-9 in the first half alone.
Dennis Schröder was a big part of the shift early on: He was 3 for 3 from deep, contributing heavily to the Lakers 9 for 15 start from 3-point range that saw them up by 16 points in the second quarter.
But again, the Lakers had trouble sustaining their momentum with a lead. In the second half, they never could again push the margin to double digits. There was a particularly unsightly finish to the third quarter, when the Lakers led by nine with 1:46 left: They allowed two Cole Anthony 3-pointers, then Reaves fouled Franz Wagner on a drive on a lay-up. Wagner missed the free throw, but Orlando scored a putback to beat the clock, cutting the Lakers’ lead to three.