FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Across three games in a wild week, Austin Reaves has ascended to superstardom for the Lakers.

Austin Reaves’ career has been defined by him stepping up to the challenge.

His path from undrafted rookie to Lakers superstar has been a steady upward climb, something not always common in the NBA. Each season, he’s been asked to take on a bigger role and each season, he’s answered the bell.

However, the latest leap he’s made might be his most impressive. After establishing himself as, at the very least, an elite role player last season, Reaves has immediately elevated himself to superstar status in the opening weeks of this season.

With both Luka Dončić and LeBron James sidelined by injuries, Austin has once again been asked to do more and, once again, has stepped up. Over the first two weeks of the season, Reaves has pieced together incredible performances that have featured a career-high in points, a game-winning buzzer beater and league-wide recognition of the star he has become.

How did it all happen so fast? Let’s look at the rapid ascension Reaves has gone on over the last week, starting at the beginning.

While Reaves’ week of playing without his superstar teammates has been the larger focus, by no means did he start the season poorly. He was simply overshadowed by Luka’s own MVP-caliber start.

After scoring 43 points on opening night, Luka poured in 49 points in a win over the Wolves. But it was the points he didn’t score that Reaves let him know about.

Luka was left in the game late in the fourth to try to get 50 points and had his chance with a pair of two free throws. However, he split the two freebies and was soon subbed out, leaving him one point shy and opening up the door for his teammates to let him know about it.

Luka wouldn’t get a chance at redemption as, hours before Sunday’s game against the Kings, he was ruled out for at least a week with both a sprained finger, suffered against the Wolves, and a lower leg contusion. With LeBron already out to start the season due to sciatica, Reaves was the only one left standing.

Given the reins to the offense against the Kings, Reaves flourished, as he so often has in his career. The Lakers leaned on him heavily and he responded in kind, pouring in a career high 51 points with 30 of those coming in the second half.

Whether it was timely 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, impressive finishes at the rim or the countless trips to the free throw line — which had the Kings crashing out after the game — Reaves had answers for everything Sacramento threw his way. And not to be lost in the shuffle is how close he came to a historic triple-double as he finished with 11 rebounds and nine assists.

“First quarter, wouldn’t say I started off great…you just stick with it,” Reaves said postgame. “Especially on a night you don’t have Luka, you don’t have LeBron, you don’t have Jaxson, you know you have to go out there and be big for the team. I wasn’t in my head thinking, ‘You have to score 50.’ It was, ‘Do whatever you can do to help the team win.’“

In a bit of poetry, Reaves went to the line with 23 seconds remaining and two chances to eclipse 50 points. Unlike Luka, Reaves knocked both down.

“I ain’t gonna lie,” Reaves said. “I went to the free throw line like, ‘S—, I better not miss.’”

Always one to have the right perspective and never let the spotlight shine too long on him, Reaves was quick to point out the role those around him on the team had in his breakout game.

“I feel like I’m just playing the game I love,” Reaves said. “Try to play the right way, do the right things on and off the court and put the work in. You can’t take shortcuts. On top of that, my teammates and my coaching staff let me be myself. That’s a big reason for why I’m able to go play the way I play.”

“You’re no longer the undrafted guy who’s a young player who’s unproven. You’re one of the guys now.”
There was little time for celebration as, 24 hours later, the team returned to Los Angeles for the second night of a back-to-back against the Blazers.

Not only were the Lakers and Reaves tasked with going up against a team willing and able to pressure perimeter players with All-Defense talent in Toumani Camara and Jrue Holiday, but LA was even more shorthanded with both Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent sitting out the contest after playing on Sunday. In effect, Reaves was the only reliable ballhandler the team had entering the game.

Again, it didn’t matter.

While he couldn’t quite muster up enough heroics to carry the severely undermanned Lakers across the finish line again, it was through no fault of his own that the purple and gold came up empty. Reaves finished with 41 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Heading into the season, only Anthony Davis had scored at least 92 points in a two-game span for the Lakers since 2009. In a span of four games to open the season, Reaves and Luka joined him.

Even more, Reaves’ 143 points through the first four games of the season tied him for the third most points in franchise history across the opening four contests of a campaign.

No longer was Reaves seen as the plucky underdog with a fun story. Now, he was one of the team’s leaders both in the locker room and on the court.

“I think the biggest thing was him taking a step forward as a leader and recognizing that it’s as much his team as it is LeBron’s team or Luka’s team and acknowledging that he does have innate natural leadership skills and being able to tap into those more consistently,” Redick said of his conversations over the summer with Reaves. ”I told him he’s out of excuses. ‘You’re no longer the undrafted guy who’s a young player who’s unproven. You’re one of the guys now.’“

“That guy’s going to show up in the big moments.”
Reaves didn’t need to do any more proving that he had arrived this season, but that didn’t stop him from offering up one of the highlights of his career two nights later.

The Lakers faced a familiar foe in the Timberwolves, the team that bounced them out of the playoffs last season. They, too, were shorthanded with Anthony Edwards sidelined due to a hamstring strain.

However, it was also a team that Reaves struggled mightily against in that postseason. After the series, it was reported that he was dealing with a toe injury, but the criticisms came all the same.

But Reaves was hard on himself, too. He lamented the missed game-tying shot he had in Game 4, an off-balance corner 3-pointer that may have helped save the Lakers and their head coach from embarrassment.

Given a chance to return to the building again, Reaves seized the opportunity. While his shot wasn’t falling at the level it had in previous games that week, he made up for it in other ways. Reaves turned to facilitating and handed out 16 assists, tying his career high.

On the back of his playmaking, the Lakers built a 20-point second-half lead. However, LA watched it all slip away in the fourth quarter as the Wolves eventually took the lead with 10 seconds remaining.

But Reaves would have the last laugh.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The NBA, if you haven’t noticed, has become huge.

That was one of my standout takeaways from phone calls with team personnel throughout the preseason, in addition to our — proven correct! — hypothesis that front offices and owners were starting to have sticker shock about rising player salaries to a degree that would drive down the overall value of various rookie scale contract extensions. I heard over and over, on top of the mounting dread regarding contracts that consume an ever-higher percentage of a team’s salary cap, that countless teams were proud of how large their rosters are.

Hawks folks were thrilled about how big their squad now stands with 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porziņģis rounding out a frontcourt alongside massive forwards Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher. The Sixers started Adem Bona next to Joel Embiid in exhibition play. Denver has played Jonas Valančiūnas next to Nikola Jokić. The Mavericks stunned Lakers head coach JJ Redick when they debuted their supersized lineup that, despite a 2-3 start, still features the 6-foot-9 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg at point guard.

“I think it’s a trend that I think will stick for a while,” Redick told reporters postgame.

Why, though? Especially when the league was not very long ago seemingly so ready to pronounce that NBA big men were going extinct?

Timberwolves fan: "Who is number 12?"Anthony Edwards: "That's what I'm saying! I don't know!"Jake LaRavia's stat line in the Lakers' win last night: 27 points 8 rebounds 10-of-11 FG 5-of-6 3PTpic.twitter.com/mBT2fOrPT4— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 30, 2025

JAKE LARAVIA (NUMBER 12)!27 Points10 of 11 Shooting8 Rebounds5 Threespic.twitter.com/rg6OQf9wM4 https://t.co/psXZuih0BX— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 30, 2025

Jake LaRavia vs Wolves:27 PTS8 REB10-11 FG5-6 3PThe first Laker with 25+ points on 90+ FG% since Pau Gasol. pic.twitter.com/urpVmtIAKY— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 30, 2025

JJ Redick: "It's very early in his Laker career, but clearly his best game as a Laker. I'm really happy for him and I showed them something the other day, I think it was the Amazon video about reference points. And for Jake as a Laker, this game now is a reference point."Austin… https://t.co/iyOJkSAXs3— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) October 30, 2025

Reaves and Ayton the last 3 games pic.twitter.com/drwuUzKUSn— Lane ‍ (@LakerrsLane) October 30, 2025

If Reaves to Ayton pick and roll looks this good, mane wait for Bron and Luka pic.twitter.com/F24cQ3OJuB— Teek (@XOLakeShow) October 30, 2025

1. Thats a Buzzer beater of a plyaer with stones.2. One of my favorites @Lakers teams was the pre Shaq 90's no real star but buch of good guys that plays fun and hard, strong vibes from this bunch.3. The Reaves – Ayton duo game gets better every game #LakeShow #LakersWinAR to… pic.twitter.com/kaxgf4vSAZ— Stav Nemes (@stavichka) October 30, 2025

From the above article:

No Luka Dončić. No LeBron James. No Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent. Yet, Austin Reaves and the Lakers keep finding ways to win.

Reaves added another gem to what was already an amazing week in which he scored 51 and 41, by hitting the game-winner at the buzzer to lift the short-handed Lakers to another gritty road victory, 116–115 over the Timberwolves. The game wasn’t pretty, but it was the kind of win that shows character and depth, with several role players stepping up for the Lakers to survive at the end. These kind of wins make the team, make the team come together.

Furthermore, what was a great moment, a great early battle won, was one that could matter a lot in the long war that is the NBA season. The Lakers beat the Timberwolves for the second time in a week, which, if there won’t be any additional games because of the NBA Cup, means they already clinched the tiebreaker against an important Western Conference rival.

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Today’s notes:

A breakdown of the beautiful game winner that capped an ugly, hustle, find-a-way win (VIDEO)

When undermanned, you gotta win the hustle game

Jake LaRavia’s ultimate connector game

Deandre Ayton keeps showing the right things (VIDEO)

Dalton Knecht showing life

1-A breakdown of the beautiful game winner that capped an ugly, hustle, find-a-way win (VIDEO)

Without key superstars on both sides, this game had several ugly stretches. The Lakers once again started without the right level of physicality and had a terrible three-consecutive-turnover stretch with a weird lineup to close the first period. They almost replicated that with a couple of breakdowns and bad turnovers to close the third and again in the middle of the fourth. They also struggled late to make shots and punish the Wolves’ fourth quarter adjustment — an almost successful attempt with the zone defense.

But they did a lot of good in between (see next point) to build a 20-point lead, and it felt fitting for Reaves not to let that effort go to waste. With the game on the line, Reaves delivered big time once again.

On a night when Reaves had trouble finishing against the length of Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert (he shot just 8-of-23 before the last shot but did have 16 assists) he and Deandre Ayton managed a last-second adjustment to create just enough daylight for Reaves to sink the game-winning floater. Post-game, Redick described in detail the preparation and the difficulty of facing the Wolves’ tactic of throwing curveballs by switching between man and zone defense — the main reason they erased the Lakers’ lead and took over with 10 seconds left. However, on the final play, Reaves and Ayton managed to find a solution on the fly, with Reaves splitting an awkward Rudy Gobert hedge, and Chris Finch admitting post-game it wasn’t the right call from him to defend the final possession.

2-When undermanned, you gotta win the hustle game

In my preview, I stated that until Dončić returns, the recipe for a Lakers win would be for Reaves to create enough offense to give the team a chance, and for the rest of the group to win — or at least stay even — in the hustle-possession battle. I highlighted Jarred Vanderbilt as the key player to lead the charge and set the tone with his energy and hustle.

After a slow start, the Lakers ramped up their physicality and were clearly the team that played with more force for most of the game. Vanderbilt was a demon on the offensive glass (he had six offensive rebounds), and he, LaRavia (more on his career night in the next point), and others created plenty of deflections, rotations, and other effort plays that helped the Lakers stay even in the turnover department.

source: Cleaning the Glass

Lakers’ turnovers continue to be a problem (understandable with every key ball-handler but Reaves on the injury report) but last night they more than made up for it with effort plays.

3–Jake LaRavia’s ultimate connector game

Jake LaRavia had an underwhelming start to his Lakers career, which Redick credited to him trying to adjust to a different, slower pace and a new role in an offense with such dominant on-ball creators like Dončić and Reaves. Last night, LaRavia exploded, scoring 27 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and adding a steal and a block in 37 minutes.

Now, I don’t expect many other nights where LaRavia will shoot 10-of-11 from the field — that’s a once-a-season outlier for a role player. What impressed me, and gave me confidence that he can be a solid rotation contributor, were the effort plays, the countless deflections, the offensive rebounds, and the right reads on offense. Those are the same things that made me describe him as an intriguing connector when the Lakers signed him in the offseason.

For LaRavia to become more than a number 12, and to truly make his mark as a Laker, he’ll have to keep making those connecting plays, especially on defense.

source: CJ Fogler post on X

4–Deandre Ayton keeps showing the right things

If you’ve followed my game recaps, you’ve probably noticed that Ayton is the player I watch the most closely. The one I keep under the microscope. He’s an enigma, a unique talent, and the kind of player who could ultimately make or break this Lakers season. So far, he has mostly shown and done the right things. He struggled in the season opener — which was predictable given where the Warriors were compared to the Lakers at that point — and was so-so against Portland on the second night of a back-to-back. In the other three games, not coincidentally all wins, he’s been great. He had 15 and 8 against Gobert in the first matchup, then 22 and 15 against Domantas Sabonis, and 17 and 10 last night in the rematch with the Wolves.

What impressed me last night was the patience and composure he showed against the Wolves’ big men. Apart from one shot, Ayton didn’t force anything, he stayed patient and clinically finished the opportunities he got. Against Gobert, that meant shooting over him with his patented hooks and mid-range jumpers, while against the smaller Naz Reid, he was much more aggressive getting to the rim.

Ayton’s elite finishing is something I wrote about after James’ injury, when I highlighted him as a player who needed to step up and play a bigger role as a high-volume screening partner for both Dončić and Reaves. And it’s the screening that’s been the most surprising and positive development after the first five games. It’s the element that has opened new dimensions and paths for Reaves’ scoring out of the pick-and-roll — on display during his scoring outburst and most evident on that final game-winner.

5-Dalton Knecht showing life

Redick and the Lakers have been extremely patient with the sophomore Knecht. He was the central figure on offense during Summer League and logged the most minutes of any player in the preseason. Knecht got several chances in the first games of the season despite no end in sight to the shooting slump that started in the summer.

Last night, Knecht finally had a breakthrough, scoring 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting (though only 1-of-5 from beyond the arc), making several important plays on the move, and keeping the Lakers close during a key stretch in the first half when it looked like the Timberwolves might build a bigger lead. More importantly, Knecht was part of the hustle movement, surprisingly filling the box score with two blocks and a steal.

With Vincent out for an extended period and the Lakers likely being extremely cautious with Smart, the team will need Knecht and LaRavia to contribute off the bench. Redick mentioned the last game as a reference point for LaRavia. Hopefully, it can be one for Knecht as well.

Final stats 📊AR: 28 pts, 16 astJake: 27 pts, 8 rebDA: 17 pts, 10 reb, 3 astRui: 17 pts, 5 reb, 4 astDK: 15 pts, 2 blk pic.twitter.com/8GtxsnyXqW— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 30, 2025

AUSTIN REAVES THIS SEASON:26 PTS — 9 AST — 5 REB25 PTS — 11 AST — 7 REB51 PTS — 9 AST — 11 REB41 PTS — 5 AST — 4 REB28 PTS — 16 AST — 1 REBPUTTING UP NUMBERS https://t.co/QJG1OjBo5h pic.twitter.com/x6mlgq0C0T— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 30, 2025

This week is reaching Linsanity levels for Austin Reaves. Let the Reavesvolution continue.He hits the game winner at the buzzer to lift L.A. to 116-115 victory in MIN. 28 pts and 16 ast on the night. pic.twitter.com/tkvXMb5xyP— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 30, 2025

Every shot from Austin Reaves to tie or take the lead in the last 24 seconds pic.twitter.com/1yHZ1XFJio— Pitless (@pitlessball) October 30, 2025

POSTGAME SCENES IN MINNY Austin Reaves celebrates with his @Lakers family after hitting the @TISSOT buzzer-beater for the win!! pic.twitter.com/hXJGev43nl— NBA (@NBA) October 30, 2025

Mark Walter explains his vision for the Lakers and why he wants Jeanie Buss to continue in her current role. pic.twitter.com/1Lb4nAsXfk— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) October 30, 2025