Austin Reaves soars for 30 in back-to-back win vs Spurs
The Lakers win 125-109 against the San Antonio Spurs on the second night of a back-to-back led by yet another star-level performance from Austin Reaves. He posted 30 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and made 5 3-pointers.
Luka Doncic, while not shooting the ball well on 5-20 shooting, led the team in assists with 14, had 9 rebounds, 3 steals and went 10-13 from the free throw line. In his 21-point effort, he how has the most consecutive 20-point games by a Lakers guard since Kobe Bryant in 2013 (via StatMamba on X).
The Lakers as a team had 34 assists and moved the ball extremely well tonight, a consistent theme that has been developing over the last few months. Because of the ball movement and playmaking from Austin and Luka, the Lakers were able to generate 70% uncontested looks on 48 shots from downtown.
LA also had a lot of help from their role players specifically from Dorian Finney-Smith, Jordan Goodwin, Dalton Knecht, Gabe Vincent and Jaxson Hayes. All were active on defense, racked up steals, knocked down threes, rebounded and did everything you'd want to see from your role players. The little details are crucial and to have guys that can help out the stars night in and night out doing the dirty work is incredibly valuable.
The Lakers held a game-high 28-point lead at one point in the 3rd that was quickly cut down by a 15-0 San Antonio run. LA was able to withstand the run and keep the scrappy Spurs at bay.
Despite a 28-39 record and numerous season-ending injuries to key players like Victor Wembanyama and De'Arron Fox, the young core of the Spurs led by veteran guard Chris Paul is a talented bunch.
After going 2-2 in 4 of the 6 games of the triple back-to-back stretch, LA seeks revenge against Denver and Milwaukee this upcoming Wednesday and Thursday.