<!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-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/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-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>

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
35.8	6.8	8.5	-	1.8

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
35.8	6.8	8.5	-	1.8

Austin Reaves

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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

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