The Lakers became “The Austin Reaves Show” against the Orlando Magic. The Lakers fought to defeat the Magic in Los Angeles, 111-105. Reaves delivered a superhuman effort to lead the Lakers to victory off the bench. His teammates backed him up with a balanced offensive effort to enable the Lakers to earn their 35th victory. Lakers Head Coach Darvin Ham spoke on Reaves’ superhuman effort postgame.
“I thought it was (Reaves) being his normal self,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “What he’s been all year. He was coming up in clutch moments for us, trying to make plays downhill, putting the defense in uncomfortable situations with his ability to attack the paint and draw fouls. He was great. He ended up with 35, and we needed all of them.”
Austin Reaves scored 35 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Reaves knocked down 1-for-4 from the three-point line. He knocked down 16-for-18 from the free-throw line. Reaves also grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists. During his trips to the line in the fourth quarter M-V-P chants rang down from the Crypto.com rafters. Reaves spoke postgame and was flattered by the admiration of the Laker faithful.
“For them to recognize what I do — obviously I’m not an MVP-caliber player, those guys are really good — but for them to do that is special,” Reaves said. “It means a lot to me.”
More Lakers Contributions
- D’Angelo Russell scored 18 points and dished out six assists.
- Anthony Davis scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
- Troy Brown Jr. scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out two assists.
- Dennis Schroder scored 12 points, scored three rebounds, and dished out five assists.
The Lakers face the Phoenix Suns at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, 3/22. Tip-off from Crypto.com Arena is at 10 pm Eastern/ 7 pm Pacific.
