Austin Reaves steps up in Luka Doncic’s absence to lead Lakers over Pistons

Austin Reaves raised three fingers to the rafters. Then, after hitting a clutch three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, he turned his palm to fans sitting courtside at Little Caesers Arena and waved goodbye.

The Lakers guard scored a season-high 41 points as L.A. Lakers survived a 121-116 win over the Pistons without star point guard Luka Doncic. The Lakers (9-2) led by 26 early in the second quarter, but nearly collapsed under an avalanche of second-half turnovers and 53 combined points from Detroit bench guards Daniss Jenkins and Kevin Huerter.

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Lakers center Walker Kessler had 12 points and 16 rebounds for his fifth double-double in six games. He crossed into double-digit scoring with a clutch put-back three-point play with 2:15 remaining to put the Lakers ahead by seven.

On the front side of a back-to-back, Doncic missed his second game of the season with low back tightness, although Lakers coach JJ Redick said he didn’t anticipate it to affect Doncic significantly throughout the season.

The Slovenian superstar is averaging a league-high 40.1 points per game, but Doncic was doing more than just scoring at rates not seen since Wilt Chamberlain. His estimated on/off of 37.7 — the difference between the Lakers’ net rating when he was on the court compared to off — was the second-highest in the league, following only Victor Wembanyama’s 41.5. In addition to having the highest scoring average through nine games since Chamberlain, Doncic is the team’s second-leading rebounder at 7.8 per game and is second with 1.7 steals.

Read more: Luka Doncic’s historic run jump-starts early MVP conversation

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But the Lakers already showed they could compete without Doncic this season. They dominated the Clippers on Oct. 28 when he was sidelined, also with back tightness.

Just as as did against the Clippers, the Lakers needed contributions from everyone. Ziaire Williams hit four three-pointers and finished with 17 points. Collin Sexton, serving as the Lakers’ second ball-handler, had 17 points on five-of-10 shooting.

Jarred Vanderbilt’s energetic six rebounds, two…

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Publish date : 2026-11-09 01:50:00

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