Austin Reaves scored a career-high 43 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 121-116 win over Detroit on Sunday, but joked that luck played a role in his shooting performance.
“I was a lucky player tonight,” Reaves said after making 14 of 27 shots, including four three-pointers, and all 11 free throws. He also admitted that one of his shots was far from intentional.
Asked about a difficult step-back three-pointer, Reaves replied: “That was terrible shot. Yeah, absolutely horrible at that point.” He explained: “When I stepped back and shot it I was like this is some Luka would shoot and I didn’t try to bank it in. It went in.”
Reaves also described another shot near the baseline as “100% lucky.”
The Lakers secured their fifth consecutive win and improved to 9-2, despite playing without Luka Doncic. Reaves said the team’s response to Detroit’s comeback mattered more than its strong opening quarter.
“I just thought we came out with aggression,” he said. “We guarded them really well in that first quarter, making some shots, so that’s obviously helpful.”
Los Angeles opened the game with a 38-14 first quarter and led by as many as 26 points early in the second. Detroit outscored the Lakers in the next three quarters, however, and cut the deficit before Los Angeles closed out the victory.
Reaves highlighted how the team handled that pressure. “I think the most important thing was how we responded to their run end of the third, start of the fourth,” he said. “That speaks volume about this team and how we stick together, even when times get hard.”
The guard also believes the Lakers can become more effective by cleaning up mistakes. “You’re not going to play a perfect game,” Reaves said. “There’s going to be something along four quarters where you can get better.”
He pointed to offensive rebounding and turnovers as areas that need attention. “If we clean some stuff up, our offensive rebounding, it was turnovers,” he said. “Get more shots at basket and give them less shots at the basket, we should win more games.”
Reaves had only one turnover in 37 minutes, adding five rebounds and four assists. His plus-21 rating was the best on either team.
Walker Kessler’s performance also stood out to Reaves. The center finished with 12 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks, including seven offensive boards.
“It was huge,” Reaves said. “I think he had, you know, the most important play of the night when he got the offensive rebound and one.”
Reaves also praised Kessler beyond his production. “He’s a really good player, really good teammate, really good person,” he said.
The Lakers visit Atlanta on Monday, looking to extend their winning streak to six games.
