Austin Reaves (33 points) and Luka Doncic (34 points) led the Lakers to a comfortable 133-121 win over the Pelicans at the Crypto.com Arena last night (November 30). If not for a missed free-throw in the final few minutes of the game, this would be the second game in a row where Austin Reaves either tied or scored more than Luka Doncic.
Following the game, Austin Reaves joked with the Lakers’ sideline reporter that he intentionally missed that free throw to avoid making Doncic look bad in consecutive games.
“You know, I’ve got to keep Luka’s confidence high. I don’t need to outscore him two nights in a row,” said Reaves, hilariously. “My mom will give me crap about missing that; she hates it when I miss free throws,” Reaves further added on the missed free throw.
Doncic was subsequently asked about Reaves’ comments in his postgame press conference, where he hilariously clarified that the free throw was to tie his points, not outscore him.
“Which free throw did he miss? Didn’t he make the free throw?” Doncic clarified with the reporter, who then told him that Reaves made the first but missed the second of his final two free throws for the night, leaving him one point short of his scoring total.
“Same, not more… Yeah, I appreciate him, I’m going to go talk to him now, say thank you,” Doncic hilariously concluded.
Doncic led all scorers with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists while shooting 9-of-22 from the field and 4-of-12 from the three-point line against the Pelicans. Meanwhile, Reaves ended the night with 33 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, going an efficient 60% from the field (9-of-15) and 57% from the three-point line (4-of-7).
In the previous game, when Doncic faced his former team, the Mavericks, Austin Reaves outscored him to lead all scorers in a 129-119 win for the Lakers. Doncic finished that night with 35 points, five rebounds, and 11 assists, going 10-of-18 from the field (55.6%). Whereas Reaves has 38 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, going an incredibly efficient 12-of-15 from the floor (80%).
We have been claiming this since last season that the Lakers’ backcourt duo is by far the best offensive backcourt in the NBA right now. This duo is currently averaging over 63 points per game, while the Lakers are averaging a score of 118.9 points per game. Therefore, this duo is responsible for over 50% of the Lakers’ scoring avenues.
Reaves and Doncic share an extremely candid relationship and seem to be using their internal competition as a fuel for their excellence as a team. They are clearly just trying to push each other to be the best versions of themselves. The Lakers are currently 15-4 for the regular season and are expected to face the Suns tonight on the second night of back-to-back games.
