10/30/25 12:46:00
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10/30 00:44 CDT Austin Reaves gives short-handed Lakers another reason to rely
on him with buzzer-beater vs. Wolves
Austin Reaves gives short-handed Lakers another reason to rely on him with
buzzer-beater vs. Wolves
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) --- Austin Reaves had the ball for the final possession, of
course, dribbling left off the high screen before seeing his opening to split
the double team with a crossover and beeline into the lane.
Lacking the space and time to reach the rim, Reaves rose up for a floater and,
with a quick flick from 12 feet out, swished the winner for the Los Angeles
Lakers right before the buzzer for a 116-115 victory over the Minnesota
Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
"I think we all knew that was ballgame," teammate Dalton Knecht said.
After catching his balance and coming to grips with his latest feat --- he said
afterward he didn't see the shot go through the net because he "probably
blacked out a little bit" --- Reaves spun toward the visiting bench and ran
over to jump around in a mob of giddy teammates.
"What tier he is, I don't know. I don't care about that, but I think last year
he established himself as a bad dude," Lakers coach J.J. Redick said. "This is
who he is."
Luka Doncic and LeBron James, who stayed home from this road trip to focus on
recovering from their injuries, immediately posted their praise on social
media. Reaves mostly aw-shucked it off, but the headband-donning Arkansas
native who went undrafted out of Oklahoma in 2021 has not shied at all from the
load he must carry when the team's generational stars are missing.
"The big thing is he's established himself as the leader," Redick said. "That's
big time. That's what we need from him."
With six players unavailable because of injuries, including point guards Marcus
Smart and Gabe Vincent, Reaves has taken on a heavy ball-handling
responsibility while getting blitzed often by opposing defenses that don't have
to worry about Doncic.
Even on a night when he shot only 9 for 24 from the floor, Reaves had 28 points
and matched his career high with 16 assists to help the Lakers build a 20-point
lead by late in the third quarter. They needed every bit of it to beat the
Wolves, who --- after a 3-pointer by Reaves with 4:01 left put the Lakers up
112-101 --- used a 14-2 run to take the lead with 10.2 seconds to go.
"To have that opportunity for a big road win, especially with a lot of people
out, is special," Reaves said, reflecting on his missed shot from the corner at
the buzzer on the same court in Game 4 of the first-round playoff series last
spring that would've tied it only to watch the Wolves hold on and eliminate the
Lakers in Game 5. "We kept hooping, and they kept encouraging me to go do what
I do."
Reaves, who had a career-high 51 points in a win over Sacramento on Sunday and
41 points in defeat by Portland on Monday, became the first Lakers player since
Kobe Bryant 20 years ago to start a season with five consecutive games of
25-plus points.
In his postgame interview at Target Center, Reaves got sentimental as he
recalled blurting out to his mother's best friend at age 7 that he planned to
play in the NBA --- even though he was more of a baseball player at the time
and didn't think much of basketball.
Now here is playing for one of the league's most iconic franchises. After
averaging a career-best 20.2 points per game last season, Reaves has elevated
his game even further --- out of necessity with James missing to start and more
recently Doncic joining him on the shelf.
"Physically it's a little more, but I'm always mentally trying to figure out
how I can help --- with them two and without them two," Reaves said, playfully
pleading for all of the team's missing players to return quickly.
But in the stacked Western Conference, these early tests could go a long way
for the Lakers in their quest to return to depths of the playoffs.
"The camaraderie that we've built in a short period of time has been great,"
Reaves said, "and we're going to continue to do that."
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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