Austin Reaves

Austin Reaves powered the Lakers to a much-needed win over the Magic with the game of his life, and fans on Twitter showered him with love.

The Orlando Magic gave the Los Angeles Lakers a challenge Sunday night, but it wasn't enough to pull out an upset win.

The Los Angeles Lakers faced a scare in Sunday's game against the Orlando Magic, but second-year guard Austin Reaves put forth the best scoring performance ...

In the absence of star forward LeBron James (foot), players will need to step up to help replace his production. Reaves finished with a career-high 35 points in 30 minutes off the bench, and he added six rebounds and six assists in the win. Final: Lakers 111, Magic 105

A critical win for the Lakers, who improve to 35-37 and move into a tie with Minnesota for No.

Austin Reaves set a career high with 35 points and D'Angelo Russell added 18 as the Los Angeles Lakers ended a two-game losing streak and helped their ...

The Lakers were 10 of 19 (52.6 percent) from 3-point range in the half. "I grew up a Lakers fan… The Lakers led by as many as 16 points in the first half and held a 59-49 lead at halftime behind 16 points from Reaves. Orlando lost for the sixth time in its last eight games. it's surreal." — NBA (@NBA)

Just when it looked like the Lakers were about to lose yet again, this time against the Magic, Austin Reaves wouldn't allow it to happen.

With LeBron James watching and Anthony Davis struggling, Austin Reaves finishes with a career-high 35 points in the Lakers' 111-105 win over the Magic.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena on the back of a career-night from undrafted guard Austin Reaves, ...

He didn't attempt a single shot from beyond the arc. Reaves went 16-for-18 from the charity stripe and only had three turnovers. He had a handful of highlight plays that kept the crowd engaged, including a behind-the-back pass and a smooth layup. His only weakness was shooting the deep ball, missing three of four attempts. In his postgame press conference, he remained humble when asked about fans chanting "MVP" for him. It's how he pulled it off that amazed viewers.

The second-year guard scored a career-high 35 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to help buoy the Lakers in the Play-In race.

He also ranks ninth in the [NBA](https://theathletic.com/nba/) in the percentage of points scored from free throws — alongside a similar group of bigs, stars, rookie [Bennedict Mathurin](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/bennedict-mathurin-qGbe9pT28TRLKEBR/) and [Harrison Barnes](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/harrison-barnes-QhjHBSSlCIrC3T5Y/). In the meantime, Reaves is thriving as his role expands and his confidence grows down the stretch of this season. He’s third on the team in fourth-quarter minutes and has played in all but four of the Lakers’ fourth quarters in the 54 games he’s played in this season. Both the Lakers and Reaves’ camp have interest in Reaves re-signing in Los Angeles, according to multiple league sources who were granted anonymity so that they coud speak freely. “You’re talking about arguably one of the greatest players ever,” Reaves said. The eight names ahead of him are a combination of paint-bound big men and superstars ( He has his tricks, knowing when to expose the ball before leaning into a defender, and how to snap his head to exaggerate the contact. He became the seventh player in Lakers history to score 35 points or more off the bench, and the first since What the Lakers have in Reaves is a player who’s been quietly breaking out during his sophomore campaign — and now loudly so. 10 because [Minnesota](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/timberwolves/) currently owns the tiebreaker. His knack for drawing contact — he seemingly is bloodied and hit in the face every game — is uncanny. [Lakers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/lakers/) (35-37) desperately needed as they barely hang on in the Play-In tournament race.

An undrafted guard has emerged as a key rotation player. He is thriving as the Lakers deal with major injuries elsewhere on the roster. His presence is keeping ...

[Warriors](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/GS/golden-state-warriors/) or the [Clippers](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/LAC/los-angeles-clippers/). [Jazz](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/UTA/utah-jazz/) have only two guards under guaranteed contracts for next season in [Collin Sexton](/nba/players/2891955/collin-sexton/) and [Ochai Agbaji](/nba/players/3042389/ochai-agbaji/). The [Thunder](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/OKC/oklahoma-city-thunder/) aren't positionally picky and will gladly take a bit more ball-handling and defensive help. [Rui Hachimura](/nba/players/2268082/rui-hachimura/). That is more than [DeMar DeRozan](/nba/players/1685250/demar-derozan/) (67), [James Harden](/nba/players/1685255/james-harden/) (58) and [Trae Young](/nba/players/2938032/trae-young/) (53). The signing team can use its cap space to structure the cap hits as the average annual salary in each of the four years. And this is where things get complicated for the Lakers, because while they can offer Reaves only the Early Bird max (which starts at 105 percent of the average player's salary), other teams have no such constraint. But stick him [Dennis Schroder](/nba/players/2067702/dennis-schroder/) and [D'Angelo Russell](/nba/players/2152730/dangelo-russell/) instead and he turns into this higher-usage free-throw merchant and floor general. The Lakers lost [Alex Caruso](/nba/players/2269489/alex-caruso/) when this happened two years ago. Here's the good news: the Lakers can legally match any offer another team makes [Austin Reaves](/nba/players/2268681/austin-reaves/) as a restricted free agent this offseason. He would make roughly $14.1 million in the final year of such a contract, a figure that's probably lower than what he is worth now. [Lakers](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/LAL/los-angeles-lakers/) fans.

American sports columnist Skip Bayless has found a way to take aim at LeBron James even whilst the Los Angeles Lakers star is off of the court with a ...

He also added that 'everything is going according to plan' which suggests that there will not be any unforeseen delays on the return date which is huge news for the team. That led Bayless to question whether the Lakers actually need LeBron to come back from his injury or not. "Who needs Bron when you have "Hillbilly Kobe"?

The Los Angeles Lakers faced a scare in Sunday's game against the Orlando Magic, but second-year guard Austin Reaves put forth the best scoring performance ...

In the absence of star forward LeBron James (foot), players will need to step up to help replace his production. Reaves finished with a career-high 35 points in 30 minutes off the bench, and he added six rebounds and six assists in the win. Final: Lakers 111, Magic 105

A critical win for the Lakers, who improve to 35-37 and move into a tie with Minnesota for No.

Howdy, I'm your host, Houston Mitchell. Let's get right to the news. Newsletter. Go beyond the scoreboard. Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily ...

No. 2 Iowa 74, No. 3 LSU 66, No. 2 Utah 63, No. 2 Maryland 77, No. 3 Notre Dame 53, No. 75, No. 4 UConn 70, No. 3 Gonzaga 84, No. 6 Creighton 85, No. 5 Miami 85, No. 3 Xavier 84, No.

The shooting guard, instrumental in the win over the Magic, grew up in a small town in Arkansas and came to the NBA after not being drafted.

Nobody even drafted me," Reaves recalled after his breakthrough performance against the Magic. On 22 October, he made his NBA debut, fulfilling a dream. All the odds were stacked against me. But come the 2021 draft, nobody took notice. Austin soon began to demonstrate his basketball skills, inherited from his parents. He didn't waste any time. "I grew up a Lakers fan. He had grown up a Lakers fan and a Kobe fanatic, just like his grandmother, with whom he used to watch the games. In August, the Lakers signed him to a two-way contract with the possibility of assigning him to the G League. [the LA Lakers ](https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/nba/los-angeles-lakers.html)and just had the game of his life: 35 points in a pivotal 111-105 win over the Magic. [Ja Morant returns to the Grizzlies following his NBA suspension: When will he play again?](https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/nba/memphis-grizzlies/2023/03/20/6418585b268e3e96488b45a4.html) [LeBron James ](https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/nba/los-angeles-lakers/2023/03/20/6418630322601de35f8b4571.html)and with only an average performance from Anthony Davis, he scored his team's final 10 points.

Austin Reaves is set to become a restricted free agent this summer, and the cost for the Los Angeles Lakers to retain him could be pretty high. The maximum…

Reaves is coming off the game of his life, a 111-105 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. The 24-year-old, who is in just his second NBA season, has shown plenty of improvement this year. but the Lakers can match that because he is a restricted free agent." According to The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania, that type of deal is "increasingly looking like his marketplace." Malik Beasley, Davon Reed and Mo Bamba have non-guaranteed deals. The Purple and Gold should have the room to keep Reaves in L.A., and The Athletic's

LOS ANGELES — (AP) — When the Los Angeles Lakers reached the final minutes of a tight game they desperately needed to win, the player with the ball in his ...

Reaves will be a restricted free agent this summer, and Lakers fans are already fretting about his future two years after they lost Alex Caruso, another undrafted find who played his way into a major role on the 2020 championship team. “I’ve said many times I’m not the most athletic person in the world,” Reaves said. Reaves sees it as a way to help the Lakers without relying on superior strength or world-class speed. “He gets a lot of those calls,” Davis said. Driving to the hoop and shooting with confidence, he also repeatedly baited the Magic into fouls and then made 16 of his 18 free throws, both career highs. Reaves ended up with a career-high 35 points, and Lakers fans serenaded him with chants of “M-V-P!

The second-year shooting guard had a career high last night.

Hot off the best game of his young NBA career last night, it appears that your Los Angeles Lakers are looking to retain backup shooting guard Austin Reaves ...

Former Sooner Austin Reaves had the NBA world buzzing after his career-high 35 points helped propel the Lakers to a big win.