LOS ANGELES — When there appeared to be a slight possibility that Luka Doncic would make his Lakers debut Saturday afternoon against the Indiana Pacers, the matchup immediately became a must-see game.
National reporters made plans to travel to Southern California. ESPN announced on Wednesday that it was broadcasting Saturday’s game in anticipation of Doncic’s debut – but it didn’t come to fruition.
And the game became even less star-studded when the Lakers announced Saturday morning that LeBron James also wasn’t going to be available because of left ankle soreness.
So when all of the attention turned to the Lakers’ game against the Pacers, what was witnessed was Austin Reaves having the best scoring game of his career and leading the Lakers to a 124-117 victory at Crypto.com Arena for their fifth straight victory.
Reaves scored a career-high 45 points Saturday – the first 40-point game of his career – to go with seven assists and seven rebounds.
The fourth-year guard, whose previous career high was the 38 points he scored in the Jan. 17 win over the Brooklyn Nets, crossed the 40-point threshold with a running layup over Obi Toppin’s outstretched arm for his 41st points to give the Lakers a 115-103 lead late in the fourth.
He made another layup less than a minute later to reach 43.
And with the Pacers (29-22) fouling late, Reaves sealed the victory for the Lakers (31-19) with a pair of free throws to reach 45, giving the Lakers back-to-back 40-point performances.
James scored 42 points in the Lakers’ win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
Saturday’s victory was the Lakers’ fifth consecutive, one off from their season-best mark, and their 11th in their last 13 games.
Rui Hachimura had 24 points and nine rebounds. Gabe Vincent added 12 points and seven assists.
Recently signed two-way guard Jordan Goodwin had 10 points and four rebounds in his Lakers debut.
The Pacers were led by Pascal Siakam’s 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and nine assists.