With both Luka Doncic and LeBron James out due to injury, the focal point of the Los Angeles Lakers offense becomes Austin Reaves. And on Sunday night, he delivered the best game of his NBA career and led the Lakers to a road win over the Sacramento Kings.
Reaves finished with a career-high 51 points to go along with 11 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and just two turnovers in the Lakers’ 127-120 victory. It was truly an all-world performance for Reaves and one the Lakers needed in order to pick up the win.
And that win was the most important thing to him as he spoke about after the game, noting that while his game still would have felt special, it wouldn’t have meant as much if the Lakers had lost, via Dan Woike of The Athletic:
“I just want to win.