Austin Reaves Ignites the Lakers with a Career Night Against the Sixers
LOS ANGELES - For Lakers fans, Thursday night was a reminder of exactly why Austin Reaves has become a fan favorite in L.A. After weeks of battling through calf injuries and a quiet stretch that had some wondering if he’d lost a step, Reaves didn’t just bounce back-he exploded.
With the Lakers staring down another potential home loss, trailing by double digits midway through the third quarter, and with Luka Dončić sidelined for the rest of the game, the energy inside Crypto.com Arena was flat. The offense looked stagnant.
The defense was leaky. And the question loomed: who was going to step up?
Enter Austin Reaves.
In a span of just over a minute, Reaves flipped the script. First, he buried a running pull-up three.
Then he attacked the rim for a smooth layup. Moments later, he dished out an assist to Jake LaRavia.
Sixty-four seconds. That’s all it took to turn what felt like a runaway loss into a competitive game.
The momentum had shifted-and Reaves was the one pushing the pendulum.
But that was just the appetizer.
In the fourth quarter, Reaves turned the volume all the way up. He drilled a 32-foot bomb to beat the shot clock, then followed it up with a stepback triple under heavy pressure.
The crowd erupted. Reaves was feeding off the energy, grinning, high-fiving teammates, and soaking in every second.
For a moment, Crypto.com Arena belonged to him.
“He was unbelievable tonight,” said Lakers head coach JJ Redick. “I know he made threes tonight and hit a couple that were pretty incredible, but his drives and his thrust, [he] got to the free throw line…got in the paint and made plays and scored at the rim. It was really great to see.”
The Lakers held on late to secure a 119-115 win over the Sixers, and while the final score might suggest a close game, this was Reaves’ night through and through. With Dončić out and the Lakers needing someone-anyone-to take over, Reaves answered the call with 35 points off the bench, the most by any Laker reserve this season. He shot a scorching 12-of-17 from the field and knocked down five threes-matching the entire Sixers squad from beyond the arc.
But the numbers, as gaudy as they were, only tell part of the story.
Reaves was relentless. Philly threw everything at him-full-court pressure, double teams, physical defense-and he kept coming.
He attacked the paint, got to the line, and put Sixers defenders in foul trouble. He sacrificed his body on defense, trying to take charges and swing momentum.
It wasn’t just a scoring clinic; it was a masterclass in competitive grit.
And for Reaves, it all comes back to one thing: winning.
“Winning’s the main thing,” he said postgame. “Regardless of stats, at the end of the day, did you win or lose is how I look at the game. There’s not many moral victories.”
“You can go have a great game and lose and I’m not going to say nobody really cares because there’s people out there that just look at the stats. But people that actually know basketball and appreciate the right things in basketball, care about winning basketball. And that’s what I’ve kind of prided myself on playing my whole career is trying to play the right way and have fun on the court.”
That mindset has been the throughline of Reaves’ rise. From undrafted rookie to one of the Lakers’ most reliable playmakers, his growth has been steady and undeniable.
While other players might ride the highs and lows of a volatile league, Reaves has been building brick by brick, season by season. No shortcuts, no gimmicks-just basketball played the right way.
Of course, the win wasn’t perfect. The Sixers had their way for long stretches, and the Lakers’ defense looked shaky.
Deandre Ayton, the team’s starting center, watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench. There’s still plenty for this team to clean up.
But on a night when the Lakers could’ve folded, Austin Reaves stood tall.
“Anybody in this league that’s surprised about AR and his ability,” said Marcus Smart, “it’s a shame.”
Reaves isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore. He’s here. And if Thursday night was any indication, he’s just getting started.