Lakers 121, Pistons 116: Austin Reaves Scores 43 With Luka Doncic Out in Detroit
No Doncic, no problem — for one night. Austin Reaves poured in a season-best 43 points, the Lakers ran out to a 40-14 lead, and Los Angeles survived Detroit's three one-point pushes in the fourth quarter for a fifth straight win.
DETROIT — The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 121-116 on Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena, in the game the search boards spent Monday morning chasing — 'pistons vs lakers' trended in 13 countries on the day's world search file.
They did it without the league's leading scorer. Luka Doncic, averaging 40.1 points, sat out with low back tightness, and Austin Reaves took the game over: a season-best 43 points on 14-of-27 shooting, including 11-of-11 at the free-throw line, with five rebounds and four assists, according to Reuters' account of the game.
Los Angeles built the cushion early — 38-14 after one quarter, 40-14 early in the second, 61-48 at halftime and 88-81 entering the fourth — with reserves Ziaire Williams and Collin Sexton scoring 17 apiece and Walker Kessler adding 12 points and 16 rebounds. The Lakers hit half of their 84 shots and improved to 9-2, first in the Western Conference, with a fifth straight win.
Detroit, owner of the league's top-rated defense, nearly stole it back. Daniss Jenkins scored a career-high 31 points off the bench and Kevin Huerter added 24, and the Pistons cut the margin to one point three times in the fourth quarter before Reaves closed it. Detroit falls to 6-3, losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.
