Austin Reaves Celebrated After Lakers’ Win vs. Blazers as LeBron James Drops 31

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The Los Angeles Lakers earned their sixth win in the past eight games with Wednesday’s 128-109 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena.

LeBron James played one of his best games of the season. The 18-time All-Star dropped 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting with eight assists and seven rebounds in 32 minutes. It was the second time in three games he has surpassed the 30-point barrier.

While James dominating is nothing new, it was a good sign for the Lakers to see Austin Reaves continue his recent streak of strong play. He scored a season-high 22 points in 35 minutes after being inserted back into the starting lineup following a three-game stretch coming off the bench.

Reaves’ performance caught the attention of NBA Twitter as the Lakers continue to play well:

Undrafted out of Oklahoma last year, Reaves was given a shot by the Lakers when he signed a two-way contract in August 2021. The 24-year-old received extended playing time as a rookie, in part, because of all the injuries the team dealt with.

Reaves showed promise as a role player, averaging 7.3 points on 45.9 percent shooting. He has hit another level so far this season and has been one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA.

After going a combined 0-of-4 from three-point range in two games last week, Reaves did fall under 40 percent shooting behind the arc. But he’s still on the cusp of the 50/40/90 club with a 54.0 percent field-goal percentage, 39.7 three-point percentage and 90.9 field-goal percentage.

Head coach Darvin Ham has taken notice of Reaves’ play by having him start seven of the past 11 games. He’s averaging 31.3 minutes per game in 14 games since Nov. 2.

Reaves and the Lakers will be put to the test in their next game when they begin a six-game Eastern Conference road trip against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.