Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Image via: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
Austin Reaves scored a season-high 43 points Sunday night, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 121-116 for their fifth straight win. They did it without Luka Doncic, who sat out with low back tightness while averaging 40.1 points. The Lakers moved to 9-2. Reaves hit 14 of 27 shots and made all 11 free throws. Austin Reaves already had 32 points early in the third, after starting 12 of 19. Then he stepped back and banked in a three with 6:41 left, which put Los Angeles up 78-61. In the locker room, the 43-point scorer was blunt. Doncic, averaging 40.1 points a night, was not even playing, so the joke landed on an empty chair. Quentin Grimes scored 10 of his 12 points in that stretch. Detroit went 6 of 22 with eight turnovers. The lead hit 40-14 early in the second and was 61-48 at the half. Daniss Jenkins had a career-high 31 points, and Kevin Huerter added 24. Jenkins was 7 of 9 in the first half, including 6 of 7 from deep, and Detroit hit nine threes in the second quarter alone to trim the gap to 13 at the break. Cade Cunningham had 14 points and Duncan Robinson 12, but neither made a field goal before halftime.
One bank shot in the third quarter got a laugh out of him afterward, and his reaction said a lot about his teammate. He did not pretend it was pretty. It also works as a compliment. Reaves knew the attempt looked like something only Doncic gets to take, and it went in anyway. The Pistons did not fold.
Then Reaves found Ziaire Williams for a three, and the Lakers led 100-96. Williams and Collin Sexton each scored 17. Walker Kessler had 12 points and 16 rebounds. Los Angeles shot 50 percent on 84 attempts, which was enough to survive.