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On a night when Anthony Davis sat out due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot, the Los Angeles Lakers got a big boost from Austin Reaves in a 102-101 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.
Reaves dropped a career-high 38 points on 13-of-23 shooting in 37 minutes.
The fourth quarter, in particular, was a showcase for Reaves and LeBron James. They combined for 25 of the Lakers’ 30 points in the final 12 minutes. James finished with 29 points, eight assists and seven rebounds overall. No other player on the Lakers scored more than 10 points.
Davis was a late scratch on Friday night, but head coach JJ Redick told reporters after the game his “assumption” is the nine-time All-Star will be able to play Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Reaves stepped up his game to give the Lakers another potent scorer next to James. His 38 points on Friday came two weeks after tying his previous career-high with 35 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 31.
Fans were more than happy to heap praise on Reaves for helping the Lakers get a much-needed win:
Even though there has been some frustration with Reaves’ overall performance this season, there’s no indication the Lakers are seriously considering trading him prior to the Feb. 6 deadline.
Reaves is certainly making it harder for the Lakers to deal him, even if they wanted to. He’s averaging 22.2 points on 40.6 percent three-point shooting, 8.9 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game in 10 starts since Dec. 25.
Putting up these stats against a Nets team that has already gone into sell mode by dealing away Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith—who is now on the Lakers—isn’t exactly an indication that Reaves is ready to take on the best defenses in the NBA.
Given that the Lakers were planning to have Davis in this game for most of the day before being thrown a late curveball, Reaves’ ability to step up on short notice was huge as they try to stay out of the play-in mix.
The Lakers have won back-to-back games after their three-game losing streak. They are now sixth in the Western Conference with a 22-17 record going into Sunday’s matchup with the Clippers at the Intuit Dome.