Austin Reaves was box office in Lakers win over Pacers

With LeBron James and Luka Dončić out, Austin Reaves had a career night, which helped keep the Lakers in the win column.

LOS ANGELES - With Luka Dončić still unavailable and Lebron James also out, the Lakers were set up for a scheduled loss on Saturday against the Pacers.

However, the Lakers didn’t bow down to Indiana. Instead, they jumped out to an early lead and Austin Reaves led the charge, scoring a career-high 45 points in the team’s 124-117 victory over the Pacers.

While this is a career-best for Reaves, it comes as no surprise to Lakers fans. They’ve watched his career trajectory from being an undrafted player to becoming a person the team can depend on in big playoff moments.

Before the game, Reaves was challenged to step up in this contest and he answered the call.

“I joked with him [Austin] before the game,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said postgame.” “I said, ‘LeBron talk to you?’ He said, “Yeah, Bron called me last night, told me he was going to be out.” I said, ‘We probably need a 38, eight [rebounds] and eight [assists] game from you.’ 45, seven and seven, that’ll do.”

By having a stat line of 45 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Reaves joins rarified air as only the sixth Laker to accomplish this feat. The only other members of this club are Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.

Austin wasted no time establishing himself early on in this matchup. In the opening frame, he was as aggressive as ever, driving into the basket, making a pair of threes and converting on a shot from the elbow for good measure.

The Lakers are inequitably worse without Luka and Lebron, but when key players are missing, it creates an opportunity for others. With two ball-dominant players absent, Reaves would have every chance to run the offense and get his shots.

He took advantage of those opportunities and did so in classic Showtime Lakers fashion. He was a magician with the ball crossing over Pacer players, making highlight plays and getting the Lakers out to an early 20-point lead.

Reaves was as consistent as they come throughout this game. He scored in double figures in three of the four quarters and had game-highs all across the board in minutes played, shots taken, free throw attempts and even had the best plus-minus on the night at +14.

Reaves broke his previous career-high on a transition dunk, which brought the crowd to their feet. On the jumbotron, a graphic appeared, signifying Reaves’ accomplishment and the stadium reached its apex in noise.

It was poetic that Reaves grabbed the team’s final rebound and was able to run the clock out. This was, by far, his best game of the season and helped extend the team’s winning streak to five.

Reaves might not have All-Star appearances or accolades that impress the NBA casual, but he’s a bonafide starter on a winning team and Saturday was a perfect example of what he brings to the Lakers.

“He’s a guy that can play on and off-ball, can score the basketball, can shoot threes, can get in the paint, could create for his teammates, competes his a-- off defensively,” Redick said postgame. “Anybody would be happy to have them on their team.”

Considering that Reaves went undrafted, virtually every NBA team had the chance to have him on their team. But they didn’t select him and the Lakers took a shot and won big with Reaves.

Now, he will play an integral role on this team as they pair LeBron and Luka together and go after an NBA title.

It is unknown how well this new era of Lakers basketball will go, but what seems all but certain is that Reaves will be an impactful player and push his and this team’s ceiling to the max.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.