Austin Reaves continues to gain weight on the Lakers. The escort became the hero of the Angelenos this morning thanks to his sensational performance in the 111-105 victory against the Magic, a result of which he was largely responsible and which keeps Darvin Ham’s men in playing positions -in. With 35 points, the sophomore Not only did he sign the best score of his career, surpassing the 31 he achieved against Denver last year, but he also established himself as a reference at the moment of truth and was in charge of closing the duel practically alone.
And it is that, after a triple by Cole Anthony that put the tie at 101-101 in the absence of just over two minutes to go, Reaves was in charge of scoring the last 10 goals of his in the match to sign on his own a 10-4 run that left the victory in the Crypto.com Arena. Most of them came from the free kick, from where he did not shake his wrist at any time during the night and was life insurance for the team. In total, he had 16 of his points from the personnel line, which he traveled to 18 times, more than the entire Magic roster (17).
His ability to score and to force free kicks was therefore essential for the locals, and the public recognized him with shouts of “MVP” at the end of the match. «Obviously I am not at an MVP level, those players are very good, but for the public to recognize what I have done in this way is something very special. It means a lot to me,” he said.
Austin, who also added 6 assists and 6 rebounds, commanded a Lakers in which D’Angelo Russell with 18 points and Anthony Davis with 15 were also important. With 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, he once again established himself as an irreplaceable piece in the team’s inside game.
Orlando, who had just beaten the Clippers the night before, was therefore on the verge of signing a double on his visit to Los Angeles. Those from Florida dreamed of victory after tying the match in the final minutes after having spent most of the night behind on the scoreboard and having seen themselves down 16, but they lacked some precision in the final moments and some mettle to avoid committing unnecessary personal fouls.
All in all, Mosley’s team continues to accumulate good feelings and establish itself as one of the young projects to follow in the coming years. Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, with 21 points each, were once again the great references for the team, while Markelle Fultz signed a double-double of 12 points and 11 assists but was unable to repeat her heroic last quarter of the previous night.
(Cover photo Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
