When the LA Lakers faced the Dallas Mavericks last night, all eyes were bound to be on Luka Doncic. Not too long ago, he looked like a Mav lifer, but everything changed after the 2024 finals. Dallas traded him for Anthony Davis, and since then, his former team has gone from title contenders to falling apart and firing their general manager.
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The Lakers, meanwhile, have found their new star. Their fans can also feel good knowing Doncic has landed in a spot where he’s already got himself a partner who matches his style. We’re, of course, talking about Austin Reaves.
Ahead of this season, LA’s star power forward, LeBron James, announced he would miss the first few games because of a sciatica diagnosis, which was disappointing for anyone hoping to see him share the floor with Doncic right away. Fortunately, Austin Reaves stepped in and filled that void. Last night, he dropped 38 points, with Doncic right behind him at 35, as the Lakers beat the Mavs 129-119 to extend their win streak to six and advance in the NBA Cup.
The duo’s on-court chemistry was truly fun to watch, and Reaves’ post-game comments made it clear that the connection carries off the court too.
Speaking at a presser, Reaves said, “I usually don’t give Luka too many compliments, but he’s one of the best players in the league.”
Reaves went on to add that Doncic makes the game much easier by directing all the opponents’ attention toward himself.
“At some point, they are going to throw a blitz at him, and so then you play advantage basketball and at that point, [you need] me and LeBron and a lot of smart players behind that to make the right read, and that’s what we have continued to do,” noted the 27-year-old guard.
There’s certainly some friendly banter going on between the pair. Both players have garnered some impressive numbers this season, so this bit of healthy competition seems to be working out for them just fine.
Reaves dunks on Doncic
Right after the win against the Mavs, as Doncic was being interviewed by court-side reporters, Reaves slid in for a quick cameo and said, “I currently have more dunks than him right now.”
When the reporters checked with Doncic to see if he’s keeping score, the Slovenian star agreed that Reaves was right but pointed out that his teammate wasn’t doing everything he does.
“Yeah but, he doesn’t stay for rebound. He just goes out, and he doesn’t want to play defense,” Doncic responded, laughing.
Now, that is some good trash talk, and the Lakers should be all for it, sitting pretty at 2nd in the West with 14 wins!
