Austin Reeves’ career night was apparently fueled by a little friendly trash talk from Luka Doncic.
Many were worried that the Los Angeles Lakers would lose to the Sacramento Kings last night after it was announced that Luka Doncic would be out with an injury.
Losing Doncic, already injured and unable to play alongside LeBron James, felt like too much of a blow for the Lakers.
But last night, Austin Reeves stepped up with a 51-point performance to help the Lakers win on the road against the Sacramento Kings.
Immediately after the game, LeBron praised Reaves and joked about Doncic, potentially sparking a friendly rivalry between them. However, Doncic appears to have played a big role in Reeves’ career night.
Austin Reeves spoke to reporters after his career night and talked about how Luka Doncic reacted to his performance.
Reeves explained that he and Doncic have a very competitive relationship, and that Doncic’s dare to score 60 points led to his outburst.
“I’m not going to lie. I went to the free throw line and I was like, ‘—, you better not miss[the free throw].’ I texted him this morning and I think we had a funny exchange…”
“Me and (Luca), our whole relationship is just talking trash back and forth. Towards the end of the conversation, he was like, ‘I need a 60 tonight,’ and I was like, ‘Ha ha.'”
“That ended the conversation. He probably texted me, but I didn’t look at my phone.”
Reaves teased Doncic missing out on 50 points on Friday night, so having Doncic reach that mark will definitely motivate both players to continue to outdo each other.
Austin Reeves, who boasts a 51-point performance, currently has two games in which he has scored 45 or more points, both of which will come this year.
This puts Reeves tied with Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for games with 45 or more points against the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s because both players only had two similar matches in purple and gold.
Of course, Reaves has a chance to surpass the two Lakers legends in the coming weeks, as he will be the No. 1 option until Luka Doncic returns to the team.
But what Reeves really wants to do is win an NBA championship with his team and match the legendary Lakers.