Austin Reaves Holding 51-Point Performance Over Luka Doncic’s Head

There are some who questioned whether the backcourt combination of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves is one that can work long-term, especially defensively. But one thing that is for sure is that the two Los Angeles Lakers guards enjoy playing together.

Reaves and Doncic have already established a great relationship both on and off the court and that was put on display following Reaves’ historic night in the Lakers’ win over the Sacramento Kings. Reaves scored a career-high 51 points in the win, something Doncic failed to do in the Lakers’ prior victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves as he missed a late free throw to finish with just 49.

And that was on Reaves’ mind as he went to the line on Sunday to ice the game as he revealed that he and Doncic do nothing but talk trash to each other, so he feels good being able to hold this 50-point night over the Lakers superstar, via Dan Woike of The Athletic:

“I ain’t gonna lie, I went to the free-throw line, I’m like, ‘[expletive], I better not miss,’” Reaves said. “I texted him [Sunday morning]. Me and him, the whole relationship is just talking trash back and forth. And towards the end of the conversation, he was like, ‘I need 60.’ And I was like ‘ha ha ha.’ And that was the end of the conversation. But I’m definitely holding that one over his head.”

Doncic is a natural trash talker and Reaves is never one to back down either, so it makes a lot of sense that the two regularly go back-and-forth with each other. The fact that Luka asked for 60 and Reaves gave him 50 is basically the reverse of Kobe Bryant’s final game when Shaquille O’Neal asked for 50 and he one-upped him with 60.

This relationship allows the duo to constantly push each other while still having fun. And Reaves will be sure to continually remind the superstar that he has a 50-point night with the Lakers, which Doncic still has yet to do so, at least for the time being.

Austin Reaves happy Lakers got the win in career performance

While scoring a career-high 51 points while nearly dropping a triple-double is worth celebrating on its own, and Austin Reaves is happy to be able to rub that in Luka Doncic’s face, the most important thing for the Lakers guard is the fact that the performance came in a win as it wouldn’t have meant as much otherwise.