The Sacramento Kings lost their second game of the season, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers, and largely thanks to Austin Reaves. The young guard had the game of his career, exposing the major flaws in the Kings' defense and completely embarrassing the team.
Under the learning tree of LeBron James and Luka Doncic, Reaves has become one of the best guards in the NBA. He's an active scorer, hustles on defense, and creates plays that set his teammates up for success. The Lakers are expected to work to keep him when his player option hits.
Going into the Kings versus Lakers game last night, both LeBron and Luka were out injured, as well as a few other players. That seemed to give the Kings a bit of an advantage while also putting the pressure on Reaves to lead the team and deliver. Wow, did he deliver.
Reaves had the game of his career to date, putting down a personal best of 51 points. Not enough? He also had 11 rebounds, nine assists, and two steals. Reaves was literally one assist away from a triple-double last night. Saying he was on a heater would be the understatement of the year.
Austin Reaves punked the Kings out
Unfortunately for the Kings, Reaves had such a legendary evening by utterly eviscerating the Kings' defense. He shot 54.5%, hitting 12 out of 22 shots. Even worse for the Kings, he shot 95.5% from the charity stripe, sinking 21 out of 22 free throws.
The Kings did not have an answer for Reaves all night. Whatever defensive presence Doug Christie had been working on over the past few weeks fell apart like toilet paper in a hurricane. In this case, Reaves is the hurricane, and the Kings are toilet paper. It's not a flattering comparison for them.
Again, this was a Laker game that featured neither LeBron James nor Luka Doncic. And it was relatively close for the vast majority of the contest, with the Lakers really only taking control in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter. Ironically, that was when the Kings' defense finally stepped up.
If the Kings want a better season than 2024-2025, they have to be able to shut down players like Reaves. He can't get whatever he wants when he runs the floor, cutting to the basket or nailing three-pointers essentially at will. Major adjustments will be necessary before the next game.