BATESVILLE, Ark. – Austin Reaves, the 27-year-old guard for the Los Angeles Lakers who grew up in Newark—about 20 miles from Batesville along Highway 14—recorded a career-high 51 points to lead his team to a 127-120 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
Reaves, an undrafted free agent out of the University of Oklahoma following two seasons at Wichita State, finished with 11 rebounds and nine assists, one shy of his first career triple-double. He shot 17-of-25 from the field, including 7-of-11 from three-point range, and went 21-of-22 from the free-throw line while playing 39 minutes in the road win at Golden 1 Center.
The performance marked the 12th 50-point game in Lakers history for Reaves and made him the seventh player ever to post at least 51 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in a single NBA game, joining the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain.
Reaves carried the load for a short-handed Lakers squad missing LeBron James, who is sidelined with sciatica and not expected back until mid-November, and Luka Dončić, acquired from the Dallas Mavericks in a February trade and out with a left finger sprain and lower left leg contusion that will sideline him for at least a week. Deandre Ayton added 22 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for Los Angeles, which outscored Sacramento 41-12 from the free-throw line.
Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 28 points, but Reaves’ 22 points in the fourth quarter, including consecutive threes that sparked an 11-0 run, helped the Lakers pull away after trailing 101-97 late in the third.
The win improves the Lakers to 2-1 in the early 2025-26 season, with Reaves averaging 30.7 points through three games. Los Angeles returns home to face the Clippers on Wednesday.
