Lakers beat the Pacers behind career-best performance by Austin Reaves

The Lakers move to 3-0 in the Luka Dončić era with an impressive win over the Indiana Pacers.

The Lakers grew their win streak to five, beating the Indiana Pacers 124-117, on Saturday afternoon.

Without LeBron James and Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves had to shoulder the scoring load and delivered. He ended with a career-high 45 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Gabe Vincent had 12 points, seven assists and two steals. Rui Hachimura scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Dorian Finney-Smith had seven points with six assists and three rebounds.

Jaxson Hayes pitched in with nine points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Trey Jemison III scored eight points off the bench. Jordan Goodwin had solid minutes with his defense, shot-altering, and rebounds, he also notched 10 points with four rebounds.

Austin established this as his time to shine early on. He drained a 3-pointer and was fouled, completing the four-point play. Gabe continued his hot shooting from behind the arc with a three.

L.A. was on a 15-4 run when the Pacers called a timeout.

Obi Toppin knocked down a three out of the timeout for Indiana. Austin countered by draining another 3-pointer. Jaxson had two dunks, including a putback after a missed layup from Dorian. At the halfway point of the quarter, the Lakers were up 16.

The lead continued to grow as the momentum was all in favor of Los Angeles. Austin was dominating this quarter, shooting 83% from the field. Trey scored six points off the bench. Gabe drained his second three of the quarter.

At the end of the first, Los Angeles was up 22.

The Pacers struck first in the second quarter, while the Lakers missed their first few shots. Rui made the first basket for L.A. with a midrange shot.

2020 Lakers champion Markieff Morris saw his first minutes of play, back in the purple and gold, shot an airball three, and then made his next attempt.

Jaxson had an open lane and ran straight to the basket for a ferocious dunk, on the assist from Austin. Los Angeles kept their foot on the gas, maintaining a big lead throughout the quarter. After a quick 4-0 run from Indiana, Rui answered with his second three of the game.

Austin had reached 20 points on eight field goal attempts but was a perfect six for six from the free throw line. Gabe took a tough shot, converting on a layup.

At halftime, the Lakers were up 16, with the Pacers shaving some points off the original lead of 22.

Both teams missed their first shots of the second half.

The first points for L.A. came from a pair of free throws from Austin. Tyrese Haliburton drained his first 3-pointer of the game, he then knocked down a midrange shot from the free throw line. L.A. turned the ball over, leading to the Pacers scoring again and a timeout by Los Angeles.

Former Laker Thomas Bryant drained a 3-pointer, helping the Pacers inch even closer.

The Lakers had only knocked down two shots in the quarter until Dorian drained a much-needed 3-pointer to stop some bleeding. Jarred Vanderbilt got a tip-in basket and on the next Lakers possession, Austin made a jump shot. Vando had a putback layup after grabbing the rebound from a missed shot by Austin and the lead was back to a comfortable spot.

Indiana called timeout as the lead for L.A. jumped to 13. Rui was up to 22 points, shooting 63% from the field. At the end of the third, the Lakers held onto a 10-point lead.

Thomas opened the final frame with a putback dunk. Austin then answered with a 3-pointer. He drained another three shortly after. He also dished an impressive lookaway dime to Jordan for a layup. It was the Austin show as he also stole the ball and went to the basket on a fastbreak dunk, leading to a timeout by Indiana.

A monster block by Dorian led to an and-1 opportunity for Jordan, which he converted on. Jaxson had his one-billionth dunk of the season from a lob by Austin. It was a 10-point game with 4:35 left.

Austin dazzled the crowd with a crazy dribbling sequence into one of his signature layups. He just couldn’t miss, converting on another layup. Jordan banked in a 3-pointer, all but sealing the win for L.A.

With 1:10 left, the Lakers decided to give the fans some nervous time, allowing the Pacers to make it a five-point game. That didn’t matter because L.A. held on with a dunk by Rui and a pair of free throws by Austin sealed the win.

Key Takeaways:

The lack of energy to start the third quarter is something L.A. needs to work on. They’ve lost big leads far too many times in the third.

For Austin to have a poor last game and bounce back with this performance is incredible.

Los Angeles has a certain Slovenian player, set to possibly make his debut on Monday. It’s Luka time!

The Lakers’ next game will be Monday against the Utah Jazz at 7:30 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.