NBA Notes: Lakers, Austin Reaves, Knicks, Jalen Brunson, Jazz

Lakers

With Luka Doncic sidelined for about a week and LeBron James still nursing sciatica, Austin Reaves answered the call. And then some.

The fifth-year guard poured in a career-high 51 points, adding 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Lakers past Sacramento, as relayed by Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“Especially on a night where you don’t have Luka, you don’t have Bron, you don’t have Jaxson [Hayes], you got to go out there and be big for the team,” Reaves said. “I wasn’t thinking, ‘You got to go score 50.’ It was, ‘Do whatever you can to help the team win.’”

Jarred Vanderbilt told Reaves on the bus that L.A. would need 50 from him, and Reaves delivered, becoming the 12th player in Lakers history to hit the mark.

He’s no stranger to it, either. In games without Doncic and James last year, he dropped 45 and 37.

“I do think for this group it’s important to know that you can win a basketball game without those two guys,” coach JJ Redick said.

Deandre Ayton also had his best game as a Laker, finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while shooting nearly 63 percent from the field.

“No matter who’s on the floor, we’re going to play hard as hell,” Ayton said.

Ayton and Reaves have been working with Doncic in practice to sharpen their pick-and-roll rhythm, per Khobi Price of the Orange County Register.

Meanwhile, Gabe Vincent exited with a turned ankle and left the arena in a walking boot, though X-rays came back negative.

Knicks

The Knicks couldn’t find their shot in a 115–107 loss to Miami, but coach Mike Brown said the real issue was losing the “possession game,” Steve Popper of Newsday writes.

“On top of the 45 transition points, we gave up 31 free throws,” Brown said. “It’s hard to win versus a good team on their home floor if you give up that many fast-break points and send them to the line 31 times.”

New York shot just 15-of-54 from three, leaning heavily on Jalen Brunson, who finished with 37 points. When Brunson sat in the third, Miami seized control.

“We were definitely a step slow in transition defense,” Brunson said. “Not being disciplined on drives, fouling. Very correctable mistakes.”

Brown continues to tinker with his lineups. He inserted Ariel Hukporti to match Miami’s size, but the big man logged only 10 minutes.

Josh Hart, wearing a splint on his right ring finger, says conditioning and not the injury is behind his slow shooting start (0-of-6 from deep).

“When I get my legs under me, those short shots won’t be short,” Hart said, via Kristian Winfield of The Daily News.

Jazz

Sarah Todd of The Deseret News writes that the Jazz are leaning into their passing depth up front.

Between Lauri Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkic, Kevin Love, and Kyle Filipowski, Utah has multiple bigs who can facilitate, creating a more fluid offense.

Coach Will Hardy has encouraged Walker Kessler to develop in that area too, believing his growth as a playmaker could be the next step in his evolution.