Reaves Erupts for 43 as Doncic-Less Lakers Survive Pistons 121-116

DETROIT — Austin Reaves has spent the season as the Los Angeles Lakers' third star, the reliable guard who fills the gaps around Luka Doncic and LeBron James. On Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena, with Doncic sidelined by lower back tightness, Reaves moved to the front of the stage and stayed there. He scored a season-high 43 points on 14-of-27 shooting, including 4 of 6 from three-point range and a perfect 11 of 11 at the free-throw line, as the Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 121-116. It was his first 40-point game of the season, and it came on a night when Los Angeles needed every point.

The fast start

The Lakers did not ease into life without Doncic. They attacked Detroit from the opening tip, forced eight first-quarter turnovers and turned them into 17 points, and raced to a 38-14 lead after one quarter. Quentin Grimes, starting in place of Doncic, scored 10 of his 12 points in the opening period, and the Lakers' bench kept the pressure on as the lead grew to 26 points in the second quarter. Detroit looked overwhelmed by the pace and the pressure. Reaves had 19 points by halftime, and Los Angeles went to the locker room ahead by 13. It was the kind of start that usually ends a game early. Against this Detroit team, it only bought Los Angeles a head start.

Detroit's long climb back

The Pistons spent the rest of the night proving why their defense has drawn praise around the league this season. They chipped away quarter by quarter, winning the second period 34-23, the third 33-27 and the fourth 35-33, and they turned a blowout into a one-possession game. The comeback gathered pace whenever Reaves sat. With 2:30 left in the third quarter, Detroit ripped off a 7-0 run and cut the deficit to three, and midway through the fourth the gap was down to a single point. The Lakers, who had led wire to wire, were suddenly playing a game they had seemed to have wrapped up an hour earlier. Cade Cunningham directed the recovery for Detroit, probing a Lakers defense that had looked untouchable in the first quarter and finding gaps as the Pistons' confidence grew. It was the Pistons' second straight defeat, and the kind of loss that stings precisely because they had done the hard part — erasing a 26-point deficit on their home floor — without ever taking the lead.

The third quarter, a courtside exchange and the finish

Reaves' night included a flash of theatre. With just over eight seconds left in the second quarter and the Lakers ahead 60-45, he exchanged words with a courtside fan during a stoppage in play, bending down toward the fan's seat before play resumed. He answered the only way that mattered, scoring 13 points in the third quarter to keep Los Angeles in front while Detroit surged. When he went to the bench with 2:30 left in the period, the Pistons pounced, and it took a layup and two free throws from Collin Sexton, who finished with 17 points off the bench, to restore an 88-81 lead heading into the fourth. The closing minutes belonged to the Lakers' supporting cast as much as to Reaves. Walker Kessler finished with 12 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots, Ziaire Williams added 17 points off the bench, and Reaves buried a step-back three-pointer in the final minute to push the lead back to eight. Detroit kept coming, but the Lakers made enough plays at the line and on the glass to close out a 121-116 win.

What the win says about the Lakers

The result moved Los Angeles to 9-2 and Detroit to 6-3, and it answered the question that has followed the Lakers through the first three weeks of the season: what happens when Doncic is not on the floor. Doncic, who scored 53 points on Friday night, watched from the bench with back tightness, and head coach JJ Redick's team found answers from the guard who has become its second option. For Reaves, the night was also a reminder of how far he has come: the undrafted guard is now the player the Lakers trust to carry them when a superstar sits. The Lakers will not want to make a habit of defending 26-point leads for three quarters. They gave Detroit life by turning the ball over 16 times, and they were outscored in each of the final three quarters. But road wins against a team as physical as Detroit, without their best player, are the kind that build a season. Los Angeles continues its road trip on Monday night against the Atlanta Hawks, the second night of a back-to-back, before facing Milwaukee and Phoenix later in the week.