<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-marcus-smart-jaxson-hayes-upgraded-la-injury-report');   ga('set', 'title', 'Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0257.jpeg"></figure><h1>Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-28T19:11:12-07:00">October 28th, 7:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-28T19:11:12-07:00">October 28th, 7:11pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a tough, 122-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, a game in which <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-states-the-obvious-amid-lebron-james-luka-doncic-absences">they were missing five key rotation players due to injury</a>. The Lakers are set to embark on a brief, two-game road trip this week, and following the loss to the Blazers, head coach JJ Redick was hopeful that reinforcements would be on the way. Sure enough, both Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes were upgraded on the team injury report.</p><p>Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes are <a href="https://x.com/Dave_Yapkowitz/status/1983331894461902963" rel="noopener">officially listed as questionable</a> on the Lakers’ injury report for the first game of their road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves. A final status update for both players likely won’t come until right before the game. Smart suffered a quad injury during the Lakers’ win against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, while Hayes sustained a knee injury sometime after the team’s season opener.</p><p>In the three games Smart has played in his Lakers debut, he’s averaged 7.7 points, 1.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 43.8 percent from the field. Hayes has only appeared in one game so far during which he finished with four points, six rebounds and one assist while shooting 66.7 percent from the field</p><p>Getting Smart back gives the Lakers an additional ball-handler to help relieve Austin Reaves of some of the playmaking duties, while Hayes gives the team a key backup behind Deandre Ayton.</p><p>Against the Blazers, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-admit-tough-situation-stars-out">Lakers just didn’t have enough depth to keep up</a>. But despite the short-handed loss, Redick was pleased by some of what he saw.</p><p>“I took a lot away. Again, our half court defense was excellent, first shot defense was excellent,” Redick said. “For the most part. . .just a highly, competitive spirit and connected group. You can build on that.”</p><p>The Lakers begin their mini-road trip with a matchup against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, before concluding the trip against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-reaction-seeing-luka-doncics-finger-goes-viral');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers guard Austin Reaves’ reaction after seeing Luka Doncic’s finger goes viral');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/reaves-and-Doncic.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers guard Austin Reaves’ reaction after seeing Luka Doncic’s finger goes viral</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-28T09:51:50-07:00">October 28th, 9:51am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-28T09:51:50-07:00">October 28th, 9:51am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers dropped to 2-2 with a home loss at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. It was another big <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-admit-tough-situation-stars-out">game from Austin Reaves</a>, who followed up his 51-point masterpiece against the Sacramento Kings with 41 more on Monday, but ultimately, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-states-the-obvious-amid-lebron-james-luka-doncic-absences">Lakers’ lack of depth</a> due to injuries was too much to overcome against Portland.</p><p>The Lakers could certainly use Luka Doncic right about now, but the Slovenian star is currently out dealing with multiple injuries, including a left finger sprain.</p><p>On Monday, when Reaves was on the sideline, Doncic appeared to show his teammate how his hand looked due to the injury, and Reaves’ reaction <a href="https://twitter.com/LukaUpdates/status/1983007937288380682" rel="noopener">quickly went viral.</a></p><p>(NFSW, video via Luka Updates on X, formerly Twitter).</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">AR says “Oh shit” when Luka shows him his palm or finger? 😳 <a href="https://t.co/Fs4Kuk2KFj">pic.twitter.com/Fs4Kuk2KFj</a></p><p>— Luka Updates (@LukaUpdates) <a href="https://twitter.com/LukaUpdates/status/1983007937288380682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Lakers fans are certainly hoping that Doncic’s injury isn’t as bad as Reaves’ reaction might suggest it is.</p><h2><b>A tough stretch for the Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Austin-Reaves-during-preseason-game.jpg"><figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Los Angeles Lakers knew they’d be without LeBron James for the first few weeks of this season due to injury, but they likely didn’t anticipate having only seven members of their active roster healthy less than a week into the 2025-26 campaign.</p><p>However, that’s exactly the situation that the team finds itself in now due to a variety of injuries. The good news for Austin Reaves is that it’s given him an opportunity just how elite of a player he can be with the ball in his hands, but it remains unclear if head coach JJ Redick will be able to find a way to weaponize that potential when he is relegated to his normal third option role alongside James and Doncic.</p><p>Overall, the Lakers will gladly take a 2-2 start considering the number of injuries they’re dealing with, but they’d certainly like to have their best player in Doncic back in the lineup as soon as possible. Doncic had gotten off to a red-hot start to the season, scoring 43 and 49 points in his first two games before the injury sidelined him.</p><p>The Lakers will next take the floor against the Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday evening.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers guard Austin Reaves’ reaction after seeing Luka Doncic’s finger goes viral

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-states-the-obvious-amid-lebron-james-luka-doncic-absences');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ JJ Redick states the obvious amid LeBron James, Luka Doncic absences');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Lakers-head-coach-JJ-Redick-makes-a-call-to-the-bench-during-the-first-quarter-of-the-game.jpg"><figcaption>© Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ JJ Redick states the obvious amid LeBron James, Luka Doncic absences</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-28T09:14:54-07:00">October 28th, 9:14am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-28T09:14:54-07:00">October 28th, 9:14am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick didn’t sugarcoat the challenge his team faces without its two stars. Following <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-gets-brutally-honest-on-how-not-fun-loss-to-blazers-was">Monday night’s 122-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers</a>, Redick acknowledged the offensive struggles that have emerged with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-admit-tough-situation-stars-out">both LeBron James and Luka Doncic sidelined</a>.</p><p>Speaking postgame via Spectrum SportsNet on X, formerly known as Twitter, Redick put it plainly.</p><p>“It’s hard to run offense without ball handlers,” he said.</p><p>The Lakers entered the season already without James, who <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-surprise-activity-hasnt-done-16-years">remains sidelined as he recovers from a sciatica injury</a> that has kept him out since training camp. Doncic, meanwhile, has missed the team’s last two games due to a left finger sprain and leg contusion. The 26-year-old guard is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-out-1-week-multiple-injuries">expected to be out for roughly a week</a> as the team proceeds cautiously with his recovery.</p><p>Before the injury, Doncic opened the season in dominant fashion, averaging 46 points, 11.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and a steal per game while shooting 62 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three-point range across the first two games. His absence has left a significant void in Los Angeles’ offensive rhythm.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“It’s hard to run offense without ball handlers.”</p><p>JJ Redick addresses the media after the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lakers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lakers</a> fall to the Trail Blazers, losing 122-108.</p><p>Spectrum customers with both Internet and Mobile services can watch live Laker games at no extra cost with Spectrum SportsNet+.<br>🔗:… <a href="https://t.co/1pXpBbIi3W">pic.twitter.com/1pXpBbIi3W</a></p><p>— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpectrumSN/status/1983041717512376783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>In Doncic’s place, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-austin-reaves-same-lebron-luka-tier">Austin Reaves has taken on a heavy workload</a> and emerged as the Lakers’ primary scoring option. The 27-year-old guard erupted for a career-high 51 points in Sunday’s 128-120 win over the Sacramento Kings, adding 11 rebounds, nine assists, and two steals while shooting 12-for-22 from the field and 21-for-22 from the free-throw line.</p><h2><b>JJ Redick guides short-handed Lakers without LeBron James and Luka Doncic</b></h2><p>Reaves followed that performance with another standout effort against Portland, scoring 41 points to go with five assists, four rebounds, and two steals while shooting 13-for-22 from the field and 12-for-14 from the line. Through four games this season, Reaves is averaging 35.8 points, 8.5 assists, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals while shooting 57.3 percent overall and 42.9 percent from three.</p><p>Despite the short-handed lineup, Redick <a href="https://x.com/SpectrumSN/status/1983041717512376783" rel="noopener">found positives in his team’s performance</a>, particularly on the defensive end.</p><p>“I took a lot away,” Redick said. “You know our half-court defense was excellent – first shot defense was excellent and we saw for the most part outside of a couple of guys, just a highly competitive, spirited, connected group. You can build on that.”</p><p>Redick, now in his second season as head coach, has emphasized maintaining structure and competitiveness as the team navigates the early absences of its two franchise leaders. The Lakers dropped to 2-2 on the season with Monday’s loss, a result that highlighted their reliance on James and Doncic to stabilize the offense.</p><p>The Lakers’ next opportunity to bounce back comes Wednesday night when they face the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-2) on the road at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Los Angeles will then travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies (2-2) on Friday night at 9:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video before returning home to Crypto.com Arena.</p><p>While both James and Doncic are expected to return later this month, Redick and the Lakers are tasked with keeping the team steady until their stars are back in action.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ JJ Redick states the obvious amid LeBron James, Luka Doncic absences

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-admit-tough-situation-stars-out');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Austin Reaves admits tough situation when stars are out after Blazers loss');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Austin-Reaves-during-preseason-game.jpg"><figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Austin Reaves admits tough situation when stars are out after Blazers loss</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-28T08:53:30-07:00">October 28th, 8:53am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-28T08:53:30-07:00">October 28th, 8:53am</time><address><a>Jayesh Pagar</a>Jayesh Pagar is currently pursuing Sports Journalism from the London School of Journalism and brings four years of experience in sports media coverage. He has contributed extensively to NBA, WNBA, college basketball, and college football content, delivering in-depth analysis and breaking news coverage across multiple platforms.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Los Angeles Lakers guard <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-austin-reaves-same-lebron-luka-tier">Austin Reaves has been the Lakers’ saving grace</a> during their injury crisis, dropping 51 and 41 points on consecutive nights. But even his heroics weren’t enough against the Portland Trail Blazers, as the undermanned Lakers fell 122-108 on Monday.</p><p>Following the loss, Reaves <a href="https://x.com/RyanWardLA/status/1983062188010156262" rel="noopener">opened up about the challenge</a> of playing shorthanded in back-to-back games, as per Ryan Ward of LakersNation on social media.</p><p>“Honestly, I think it starts with mentally trying to get yourself ready for the game. It’s not easy, but like I said, this is what we signed up to do, so we have to figure it out. I thought with our intensity we played hard enough to win but we just didn’t execute good enough,” Reaves said.</p><p>The Lakers had seven players ruled out against the Blazers, including LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Gabe Vincent, Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes, Maxi Kleber, and Adou Thiero. That forced Reaves into a massive role as the primary creator and scorer.</p><p>Reaves <a href="https://www.espn.in/nba/player/_/id/4066457/austin-reaves" rel="noopener">finished with 41 points</a> on 13-22 shooting against Portland, adding five assists and three steals in 39 minutes. Just one night earlier, he had exploded for a career-high 51 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists in a win over the Sacramento Kings.</p><p>The 51-point performance was historic, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-joins-ex-mvps-exclusive-all-time-club">putting Reaves in the Lakers’ 50-point club</a>. He got to the free-throw line 21 times against the Kings and another 14 times against the Blazers, showing foul-drawing ability under heavy usage.</p><p>The back-to-back showcased <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-austin-reaves-same-lebron-luka-tier">Reaves’ ability to function as a true number-one option</a>. He averaged 46 points across the two games while maintaining efficiency from three-point range and attacking the basket. The 21-for-22 free-throw night against Sacramento highlighted his composure in crunch time.</p><p>With so many key players sidelined, Reaves will need to maintain this level for the foreseeable future. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-injury-timeline-update-patient-approach">LeBron James isn’t expected back until mid-November</a> as he deals with sciatica. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-out-1-week-multiple-injuries">Doncic is week-to-week with a finger sprain</a> and leg contusion, while Gabe Vincent will miss 2-4 weeks with an ankle sprain.</p><p>Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes could return on the upcoming road trip if their progress continues. Until then, Reaves will need to keep carrying this massive load as the Lakers’ offense runs almost entirely through him.</p><p>The early returns show just how much pressure that puts on one player. Los Angeles sits at 2-2 through four games. Without their stars, the Lakers need Reaves to keep producing at an elite level just to stay competitive.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Austin Reaves admits tough situation when stars are out after Blazers loss

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/brooklyn-nets/nets-news-brooklyn-ends-drew-timme-two-way-contract-speculation');   ga('set', 'title', 'Nets end Drew Timme two-way contract speculation with Lakers G League trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Drew-Timme-1.jpg"><figcaption>Mar 28, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Drew Timme (26) adjusts his headband during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Nets end Drew Timme two-way contract speculation with Lakers G League trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-28T08:19:31-07:00">October 28th, 8:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-28T13:38:48-07:00">October 28th, 1:38pm</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Erik Slater is the credentialed Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He's a graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, as well as a Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Brooklyn Nets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/brooklyn-nets/nets-news-brooklyn-waives-former-first-round-pick-2">Brooklyn Nets parted ways with fan favorite Drew Timme</a> before the start of the 2025-26 campaign. Yet, some speculated that the former Gonzaga star could return to fill the team’s final two-way spot. Any hopes of a reunion ended on Saturday.</p><p>The Long Island Nets traded Timme and their 2027 first-round pick to the South Bay Lakers for guard Nate Williams.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/brooklyn-nets/nets-drew-timme-earns-all-g-league-honors-after-breakout-season">Timme broke out with Long Island</a> last season after joining the team in a midseason trade from the Stockton Kings. The 24-year-old averaged 23.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 58/39/73 shooting splits over 29 appearances. His performance earned him a 10-day contract with Brooklyn late in the season.</p><h2>Nets waive Drew Timme, acquire former Houston Rockets guard Nate Williams</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/USATSI_25920819_4d5e20-e1755045225785.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Timme continued to impress over nine NBA appearances with the Nets, averaging 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 25.7 percent from three. Brooklyn signed him to a non-guaranteed two-year deal. However, with Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe and rookie first-round pick Danny Wolf at center, the team waived Timme ahead of this season.</p><p>Timme now joins a Lakers organization that has had a glaring need at center since trading Anthony Davis for Luka Donic. Los Angeles signed Deandre Ayton in free agency, but backups Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber are battling injuries.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Nets acquired Williams, a Long Island native who <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/willije02.html" rel="noopener">appeared in</a> 44 NBA games with the Houston Rockets over the last two seasons. The 6-foot-5 guard went undrafted out of Buffalo in 2022 and spent his rookie season with the Portland Trail Blazers. He signed a two-way contract with Houston before the 2023-24 campaign.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/houston-rockets/rockets-news-houston-cody-zeller-nate-williams">The Rockets converted Williams to a four-year, $8.2 million standard deal</a> in March. However, the team waived him in July, after which he signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Lakers, ultimately landing with their G League affiliate.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Nets end Drew Timme two-way contract speculation with Lakers G League trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-gets-brutally-honest-on-how-not-fun-loss-to-blazers-was');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers star Austin Reaves gets brutally honest on how ‘not fun’ loss to Blazers was');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Austin-Reaves-gets-brutally-honest-on-how-not-fun-loss-to-Blazers-was.jpg"><figcaption>© William Liang-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers star Austin Reaves gets brutally honest on how ‘not fun’ loss to Blazers was</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-28T01:01:41-07:00">October 28th, 1:01am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-28T01:01:41-07:00">October 28th, 1:01am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-even-james-worthy-is-in-awe-of-austin-reaves-51-point-night">Austin Reaves was coming off a 51-point outing</a> in an impressive 127-120 win for the Los Angeles Lakers over the Sacramento Kings. But he and the Lakers did not have much time to celebrate that incredible, career-best outing. The Lakers had to lock in less than 24 hours later, as they had to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.</p><p>That game against the Blazers did go as swimmingly for the Lakers; they ended up suffering a 122-108 defeat, as their shorthanded roster could not keep up with a much more youthful and deeper Blazers squad. This LA team, as one should remember, was without Luka Doncic and LeBron James. They <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-gabe-vincent-miss-2-4-week-ankle-injury">were also without Gabe Vincent</a>, who’s set to miss two to four weeks with an ankle injury. Just to make matters worse, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes were also out.</p><p>Reaves admitted that <a href="https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1983056145725215192" rel="noopener">it was not fun at all</a> to go up against the Blazers and to suffer a loss.</p><p>“Last night was fun. Didn’t sleep much. That was much more fun because we won. [Tonight], it’s not as fun when you don’t win,” Reaves told reporters following their loss to the Blazers, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Last night was fun … [Tonight] it’s not as fun when you don’t win.” Austin Reaves on the whirlwind experience of scoring 92 points in 48 hours in two games in two cities. <a href="https://t.co/L9aKuOf21l">pic.twitter.com/L9aKuOf21l</a></p><p>— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1983056145725215192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Reaves, for his part, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-luka-doncic-joke-nearly-backfires-51-point-masterclass-kings">followed up his incredible 51-point outing</a> against the Kings with another solid outing, putting up 41 points on 13-22 shooting from the field against a Blazers team that hangs its hat on the defensive end of the floor.</p><p>The Lakers guard was being hounded by the likes of Toumani Camara and Jrue Holiday all night long, and yet he still managed to carry the Purple and Gold’s offense to a respectable level.</p><p>This Lakers team, however, has to get healthy very soon, as they are at risk of burning Reaves out this early in the season if this keeps up.</p><h2><b>Blazers clamp down on the Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0256.jpeg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Blazers certainly learned from the Kings’ mistake; they did not allow the Lakers to simply bring the ball up unimpeded and get into their offensive sets without much resistance.</p><p>Portland was putting on the pressure from the backcourt all night long, and it resulted in a few foolish turnovers from the Lakers. They needed ballhandling so badly, and they couldn’t rely on Nick Smith Jr. or Bronny James to provide some playmaking relief.</p><p>The Lakers, however, will have to survive at least another five to six days of not having another primary ballhandler to share the load with Reaves.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers star Austin Reaves gets brutally honest on how ‘not fun’ loss to Blazers was

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-gabe-vincent-miss-2-4-week-ankle-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Gabe Vincent to miss 2-4 weeks with ankle injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Gabe-Vincent-leaves-Kings-game-with-concerning-injury.jpg"><figcaption>Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Gabe Vincent to miss 2-4 weeks with ankle injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-27T20:19:34-07:00">October 27th, 8:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-27T20:19:34-07:00">October 27th, 8:19pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the Los Angeles Lakers continue to navigate the absence of LeBron James and Luka Doncic due to injury, they were dealt another blow amid the second night of a back-to-back against the Portland Trail Blazers. Gabe Vincent, who had been one of the Lakers’ starting guards to begin the season, <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1983003329182769651" rel="noopener">was ruled out</a> for two to four weeks due to an ankle injury, as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.</p><p>Gabe Vincent had moved into the starting lineup for the Lakers on opening night as James was sidelined due to a nerve injury. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-tough-gabe-vincent-scene-after-kings-game-dampens-las-win">Vincent suffered the ankle injury</a> during the Lakers’ win against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. He appeared to roll his ankle early in the third quarter and immediately headed to the locker room upon exiting the game.</p><p>Going back to last season, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-gabe-vincent-earned-jj-redicks-trust">Vincent has earned the trust of Lakers head coach JJ Redick</a>, and he’s also emerged as a leader on the team. He signed with the Lakers as a free agent ahead of the 2023-24 season, but was limited that year to only 11 games that year as he battled a knee injury that ultimately required surgery.</p><p>Last year was Vincent’s first healthy season with the Lakers and he became one of the team’s most dependable reserves. He appeared in 72 games, including 11 starts, at a little over 21 minutes per game. He averaged 6.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists with splits of 40 percent shooting from the field, 35.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 71.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>Through the Lakers’ first three games of this season, Vincent had been averaging 3.7 points, 1.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists.</p><p>When the Lakers signed Vincent, he was coming off a stint as the starting point guard for the Miami Heat amid their 2023 run to the NBA Finals. Vincent began his career with the Heat, playing four seasons for the team after going undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Gabe Vincent to miss 2-4 weeks with ankle injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-austin-reaves-same-lebron-luka-tier');   ga('set', 'title', 'JJ Redick explains why Austin Reaves belongs in the same LeBron-Luka tier');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0256.jpeg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>JJ Redick explains why Austin Reaves belongs in the same LeBron-Luka tier</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-27T19:31:07-07:00">October 27th, 7:31pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-27T19:31:07-07:00">October 27th, 7:31pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – As the Los Angeles Lakers prepared to face off against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, much of the chatter pregame was still on <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-key-factor-austin-reaves-51-points">Austin Reaves’ incredible performance</a> from the night before when he <a href="https://x.com/SportsCenter/status/1982654850018992614" rel="noopener">dropped a career-high</a> 51 points against the Sacramento Kings in a win. Reaves stepped in in the absence of the Lakers’ main stars in LeBron James and Luka Doncic.</p><p>However, during his pregame press conference, Lakers head coach JJ Redick acknowledged that Austin Reaves has just as much say on the team as James and Doncic. In the offseason, one of the ways that Redick challenged Reaves was in taking on more of a leadership role.</p><p>“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.</p><p>“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, and he’s been very responsive to that,” Redick continued “I think in his preseason, his September, so far in the regular season, I’ve just seen a lot of growth there from him.”</p><p>Before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-out-1-week-multiple-injuries">Luka Doncic was sidelined due to multiple injury</a> issues, he was off to a torrid start to the season for the Lakers. But Reaves had been off to a strong start too, overshadowed a little by Doncic’s back-to-back 40+ point games. Then came Sunday night against the Kings when Reaves showed what he’s capable of when he’s the primary offense option.</p><p>Through the Lakers’ first three games of the season, Reaves is averaging 34.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 9.7 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 56.6 percent shooting from the field, 45 percent shooting from the three-point line and 89.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>As his averages show, it isn’t just scoring in which Reaves impacts the game. When he dropped 51 points, he also added 11 rebounds and nine assists. Redick admitted that Reaves is able to do things on the court that he was never able to do when was still playing.</p><p>“He’s a better player than I ever was. There’s certain things you do in basketball where I can’t coach you on, there’s just not. I didn’t have the game that he had,” Redick said. “There’s other things I can coach you on. And I think his willingness to just be coached from the first day that I got this job to today, every day he’s just wiling to be coached. And it’s been awesome.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

JJ Redick explains why Austin Reaves belongs in the same LeBron-Luka tier

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-51-points-austin-reaves-recalls-time-scored-73');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Austin Reaves hilariously recalls the time he scored 73');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Austin-Reaves.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Austin Reaves hilariously recalls the time he scored 73</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-27T11:00:48-07:00">October 27th, 11:00am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-27T11:00:48-07:00">October 27th, 11:00am</time><address><a>Rohan Brahmbhatt</a>Rohan Brahmbhatt is an adventure-driven sports writer, passionate footballer, mountaineer, and photojournalist. Rohan blends firsthand experience with storytelling—capturing the intensity of sport and the thrill of exploration. Whether on the field, a mountain trail, or behind the lens, he brings authentic, high-energy narratives that connect readers to the heart of the action.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Austin Reaves hilariously recalls the time he scored 73

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-60-point-challenge-austin-reaves-nearly-did-it');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic issued 60-point challenge to Austin Reaves, and then he nearly did it');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Austin-Reaves-and-Luka-Doncic-celebrating.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic issued 60-point challenge to Austin Reaves, and then he nearly did it</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-27T08:40:14-07:00">October 27th, 8:40am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-27T08:40:42-07:00">October 27th, 8:40am</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Austin Reaves already knew what was expected of him when it was revealed that LeBron James would miss considerable time due to sciatica, but the recent <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-out-1-week-multiple-injuries">Luka Doncic injury news</a> forces the Los Angeles Lakers guard to enter savior mode. The Slovenian superstar himself <a href="https://x.com/LakersReporter/status/1982658908897620377" rel="noopener">called on</a> Reaves to score 60 points in Sunday’s clash with the Sacramento Kings, per Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Trudell, a challenge that the 27-year-old was not too far from achieving.</p><p>Reaves seamlessly assumed the top role on offense, dropping 51 points on 12-of-22 shooting in a 127-120 road win. He was one assist shy of a triple-double and also recorded two steals, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-joins-ex-mvps-exclusive-all-time-club">posting a masterful effort</a> when the Lakers needed him most. Jarred Vanderbilt also dared Reaves to step up in Sacramento, and his request was fulfilled.</p><p>“We were going to the bus lines, I was telling him, ‘we need 50 from you tonight,'” the veteran power forward told reporters, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “As you can see, he did it. We challenged him, and he came through.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“‘We need 50 from you tonight’ … and as you can see, he did it.” Jarred Vanderbilt on his challenge to Austin Reaves as they boarded the team bus before the Kings. Reaves scored 51 and the Lakers won. <a href="https://t.co/rTwgtCCHGR">pic.twitter.com/rTwgtCCHGR</a></p><p>— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1982675362518860045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Austin Reaves steps up for Lakers in a huge way </b></h2><p>The undrafted talent out of Wichita State and Oklahoma was absolutely magnificent in the fourth quarter, knocking down three of his six 3-pointers in the span of two and a half minutes to help give LA a 108-101 lead with 6:46 remaining. He then essentially wrapped a bow on the W with a clutch display on the free throw line — was a mind-boggling 21-of-22 from the charity stripe overall.</p><p>Although Reaves had already introduced himself as an undeniable difference-maker in the years prior, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-key-factor-austin-reaves-51-points">this sensational outing</a> in the Golden 1 Center illustrated just how dangerous he can be as a No. 1 option. LeBron James is one of the two best players to ever step foot on a basketball court. Luka Doncic is an offensive savant who is expected to win at least one MVP crown before he retires. Naturally, No. 15 is often overshadowed by the elite company he keeps, but he is a vital member of this franchise.</p><p>The Lakers will not contend in the loaded Western Conference unless Austin Reaves is consistently competing at an impactful level. He proved as much in Sacramento, impressing Doncic, answering Vanderbilt’s plea and imbuing fans with new confidence. Los Angeles is hoping the new 50-point man has enough in the tank to lead the 2-1 squad past the visiting Portland Trail Blazers (1-2) on Monday night.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic issued 60-point challenge to Austin Reaves, and then he nearly did it

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-joins-ex-mvps-exclusive-all-time-club');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Austin Reaves joins ex-MVPs in extremely exclusive all-time club');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LeBron-James-gives-Austin-Reaves-tough-label-after-51-point-masterclass.jpg"><figcaption>Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Austin Reaves joins ex-MVPs in extremely exclusive all-time club</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-27T00:39:50-07:00">October 27th, 12:39am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-27T00:39:50-07:00">October 27th, 12:39am</time><address><a>Abdullah Imran</a>Abdullah Imran works as an Associate Editor for All Sports at ClutchPoints. He’s been a sports fan his entire life and enjoys writing about every sport. He has spent three years in sports journalism and loves analyzing games. In his free time, he very much enjoys binge-watching shows and playing video games.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Leading <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-even-james-worthy-is-in-awe-of-austin-reaves-51-point-night">the Los Angeles Lakers to a 127-120 road victory over the Sacramento Kings</a> on Sunday night, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-drops-the-mic-with-perfect-reaction-to-51-point-stunner">Austin Reaves recorded a career-high performance</a>.</p><p>In the absence of LeBron James and Luka Doncic due to injuries, Reaves assumed full control of the Los Angeles offense, scoring a career-high 51 points, narrowly missing a triple-double with 11 rebounds and nine assists. He also added two steals, shooting 12-of-22 from the field, 6-of-10 from three, and an impressive 21-of-22 from the free-throw line, <a href="https://x.com/PolymarketHoops/status/1982655853594657222" rel="noopener">joining the exclusive group</a> of Russell Westbrook and James Harden to hit these numbers</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-key-factor-austin-reaves-51-points">Reaves’ 51-point explosion</a> surpasses his previous career best of 45 points against the Indiana Pacers last February. This performance made him the 12th player in Lakers history to score 50 or more points in a single game and the eighth in franchise history to convert 20 or more free throws in one contest. He now joins an elite group of Lakers who have reached the 50-point milestone in the modern era, a list that includes Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron, and Anthony Davis.</p><p>Los Angeles was behind 101-97 midway through the fourth quarter after a Domantas Sabonis three-pointer. Then, with a trio of three-pointers, Reaves led a 20-5 run, giving the Lakers an 11-point lead late in the game that Sacramento could not overcome.</p><p>Five Lakers finished in double figures. Deandre Ayton posted 22 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block; Rui Hachimura scored 18 points with three rebounds; Marcus Smart contributed 11 points and five assists; and Jake LaRavia added 11 points and six boards.</p><p>Reaves led the way from the free-throw line, converting 21-of-22 as Los Angeles outscored the Kings 41-12. The Lakers also controlled the glass, collecting 47 rebounds compared to Sacramento’s 40. Despite the Kings’ strong outside shooting, outscoring Los Angeles 54-24 from beyond the arc, Reaves’ offensive mastery and clutch scoring carried the Lakers to the win.</p><p>Zach LaVine led Sacramento with 32 points, while DeMar DeRozan contributed 21 points and six rebounds.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-gives-austin-reaves-tough-label-51-point-masterclass">Reaves’ performance earned praise from his teammate James</a>, who celebrated it on social media, calling Reaves “TOOO TOUGH!!”</p><p>The Lakers, now 2-1 on the season, will continue their road trip against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday without any rest. Reaves will again have to carry the scoring load with James and Doncic out.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Austin Reaves joins ex-MVPs in extremely exclusive all-time club

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-luka-doncic-joke-nearly-backfires-51-point-masterclass-kings');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers star Austin Reaves’ Luka Doncic joke nearly backfires amid 51-point masterclass vs. Kings');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Lakers-guard-Luka-Doncic-left-and-guard-Austin-Reaves-15-interact.jpg"><figcaption>© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers star Austin Reaves’ Luka Doncic joke nearly backfires amid 51-point masterclass vs. Kings</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-26T23:58:21-07:00">October 26th, 11:58pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-26T23:58:21-07:00">October 26th, 11:58pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-drops-the-mic-with-perfect-reaction-to-51-point-stunner">Austin Reaves has built quite a close friendship</a> with Luka Doncic even though they’ve been teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers for a little less than nine months. The two always have quite a hilarious banter with one another, with Reaves <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQP3iv7CVZ4/" rel="noopener">clowning</a> Doncic after he missed a free-throw on Friday night during their 127-110 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves — putting him just one point shy of his first 50-point game as a member of the Purple and Gold.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="instagram-media"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQP3iv7CVZ4/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div><div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div><div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 24px;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div><p></p></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQP3iv7CVZ4/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Bleacher Report (@bleacherreport)</a></p></div></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>On Sunday night, with Doncic being declared out for a week with multiple injuries, the onus was on <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-even-james-worthy-is-in-awe-of-austin-reaves-51-point-night">Reaves to lead the Lakers’ offense</a> against the Sacramento Kings. He ended up with the best game of his career to this point — 51 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists on 12-22 shooting from the field, 6-10 from deep, and 21-22 from the charity stripe.</p><p>But Doncic is surely laughing somewhere that Reaves nearly ended up with the same fate as him. Reaves, who has the entire world as his oyster, admitted that he <a href="https://twitter.com/khobi_price/status/1982693511955968452" rel="noopener">felt some pressure</a> at the foul line as he approached the 50-point mark as his joke towards his Lakers co-star nearly backfired.</p><p>“I ain’t gonna lie, I went to the free throw line. I’m like, s**t, I better not miss,” Reaves said, eliciting a laugh from the press room, via Khobi Price of So Cal News Group.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I ain't gonna lie, I went to the free throw line. I'm like, s—, I better not miss," Austin Reaves, fresh off scoring a career-high 51 points tonight in Sacramento, after trolling Luka Doncic on IG on Friday night: <a href="https://t.co/OUaGIVNzf4">https://t.co/OUaGIVNzf4</a> <a href="https://t.co/QXs9A63465">pic.twitter.com/QXs9A63465</a></p><p>— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) <a href="https://twitter.com/khobi_price/status/1982693511955968452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>With 23 seconds left and the game basically over in favor of the Lakers, Reaves was fouled intentionally as the Kings, with their last gasp, tried to mount a comeback. He did end up swishing both free throws, making him just the fifth Laker player since 2000 to score over 50 points (joining LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Anthony Davis).</p><p>For as much as Reaves and Doncic love to clown each other, no one in the world is happier for the former than the latter after he willed the Lakers to a much-needed victory despite being shorthanded.</p><h2><b>Austin Reaves, Lakers lay the smack down from the foul line</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Lakers-guard-Austin-Reaves-15-reacts-after-making-a-three.jpg"><figcaption>© Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Lakers were playing with house money on Sunday, and it was evident that they were playing like they had nothing to lose. Reaves was ultra-aggressive and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-drops-the-mic-with-perfect-reaction-to-51-point-stunner">shot 22 free throws</a>, channeling his own inner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the process.</p><p>But as a team, the Lakers shot brilliantly from the foul line. They made 41 of their 46 freebies (89.1 percent), and it was more than enough to compensate for the Kings’ 30-point advantage on three-pointers (18 made 3s for Sacramento, just eight for LA).</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Los Angeles
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Latest Lakers News

Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report

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• JJ Redick explains why Austin Reaves belongs in the same LeBron-Luka tier

• Lakers’ Austin Reaves hilariously recalls the time he scored 73

• Lakers’ Luka Doncic issued 60-point challenge to Austin Reaves, and then he nearly did it

• Lakers’ Austin Reaves joins ex-MVPs in extremely exclusive all-time club

• Lakers star Austin Reaves’ Luka Doncic joke nearly backfires amid 51-point masterclass vs. Kings

Los AngelesLakers NEWS

Lakers News: Get the latest Los Angeles Lakers news, scores, stats, standings, fantasy games, and more from ClutchPoints.

Latest Lakers News

Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report

Lakers guard Austin Reaves’ reaction after seeing Luka Doncic’s finger goes viral

Lakers’ JJ Redick states the obvious amid LeBron James, Luka Doncic absences

Lakers’ Austin Reaves admits tough situation when stars are out after Blazers loss

Nets end Drew Timme two-way contract speculation with Lakers G League trade

Lakers star Austin Reaves gets brutally honest on how ‘not fun’ loss to Blazers was

Gabe Vincent to miss 2-4 weeks with ankle injury

• JJ Redick explains why Austin Reaves belongs in the same LeBron-Luka tier

• Lakers’ Austin Reaves hilariously recalls the time he scored 73

• Lakers’ Luka Doncic issued 60-point challenge to Austin Reaves, and then he nearly did it

• Lakers’ Austin Reaves joins ex-MVPs in extremely exclusive all-time club

• Lakers star Austin Reaves’ Luka Doncic joke nearly backfires amid 51-point masterclass vs. Kings

Los Angeles
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