Austin Reaves had enough going on Sunday night without the extra noise from the courtside seats.
In the second quarter of the Lakers’ 121-116 win over the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena, Reaves hit the floor after getting tangled up with Ron Holland II and ended up close to a group of fans. One of them immediately started jawing at him.
“Hey. You’re f*ing a,” the courtside fan said.
“What’s wrong with you?” Reaves responded.
“Swing on me,” the fan added.
The exchange spread fast online, and plenty of fans were quick to call out the heckler for what looked like a clear attempt to bait Reaves into something bigger.
“Lawsuit baiting,” @jason23lake said.
Reaves didn’t take the bait. He stayed composed, kept the moment from boiling over and then went right back to work.
With Luka Doncic sidelined, he carried the Lakers offensively and finished with 43 points, five rebounds and four assists. Twenty-four of those points came in the second half, helping Los Angeles stretch its winning streak to five games.
He also had one of those shots that makes you do a double take. Reaves buried a heavily contested three-pointer off the glass, and afterward he admitted the bank wasn’t planned at all.
“When I stepped back and shot it, I was like, ‘this is some bulls**t Luka would shoot’ and I didn’t try to bank it in. It went in, so it looks the same in the stat sheet,” Reaves said.
Doncic sat out Sunday, then returned to lead the Lakers the next night against the Hawks. Reaves was out for that one, and Doncic delivered a 32-point near triple-double in a 124-114 win for the Purple & Gold.
In Other News...
Pistons May Have Found A Needed Answer While Jalen Duren Sits
With Jalen Duren sidelined, the Pistons turned to a different look against the Wizards and got exactly the kind of response they needed. John Collins drew the start at center for the first time this season, and the move came after Detroit had dropped two straight, so there was a little more urgency behind the decision than a simple lineup tweak.
Collins rewarded the coaching staff with a strong all-around showing, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds in a dominant win. The performance gives Detroit a potentially useful short-term answer in the middle while Duren is out, and it leaves the Pistons with something to consider if they want to keep that look going. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Found A New Spark That Could Become A Serious Problem
JB Bickerstaffs latest lineup tweak gave the Pistons a different look and, for a night, a needed jolt. By moving Daniss Jenkins into the starting group and sending Paul Reed to the bench, with John Collins sliding in at center, Detroit played with more pace and found enough offense to come away with a win. It was the kind of adjustment that can change the feel of a game quickly, especially for a team still trying to sort out what its best version looks like.
The tradeoff, though, was obvious once the ball started going the other way. The smaller setup left Detroit exposed inside, and Anthony Davis took full advantage, piling up 44 points while controlling the glass. For the Pistons, the question now is whether the boost in tempo is worth the defensive risk, because the new look may have created a spark even as it opened the door to a problem that could linger. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Exposed A Wizards Problem Anthony Davis Couldnt Ignore
The Wizards recent slide has been about more than just missed shots and empty possessions. After four straight losses, their defense has become the bigger concern, with Anthony Davis pointing to the kind of breakdowns that usually show up in the ugliest kinds of defeats: poor rebounding, too much fouling and far too many clean looks for opponents. What had looked like an early-season strength has slipped into a more ordinary place, and the offense has not been good enough to cover for it.
For a Pistons team watching the East closely, that kind of decline is hard to ignore because it changes how Washington has to play every night. The Wizards are no longer getting the defensive edge that helped them start well, and once that foundation cracks, the rest of the roster has to work harder to keep games under control. The lingering question now is whether this is just a rough stretch or the start of a deeper problem they have not fixed yet. [Read more 🡒]